Dashavatar movie review

Movie
Dashavatar
Director
Bhavik Thakore
Producer
Vimal Shah
Cast
Sachin Khedekar, Shreyas Talpade, Roopa Ganguly, Tom Alter, Sonia Chopra


Yes, animations have been suffering a bout of mythologia—a disease that doesn’t allow the makers to think beyond pre-existing mythological stories we’ve grown up hearing. But each animation is different in content and the entertainment quotient. The last animation released was Ghatotkach, again mythology driven, but it failed in both content and form.
Dashavatar redeems itself because the story has a lot of meat and is spread across two hours with an intelligent and dexterous screenplay exploring the 10 avatars of Lord Vishnu.

The film starts in the present time with a screaming headline about two kids, Aarti and Ajay, who’ve been kidnapped for ransom. We see them running away from the kidnappers when they spot a run-down Krishna temple and bolt the door. A priest appears from nowhere and asks them to chant a mantra. Before they know it, they are transported high up in the skies to Swargalok and are about to see the 10 avatars of Lord Vishnu (Sachin Khedekar) unfold.

With them are we, the viewers, getting a ringside view of the action. The kids meet Narad (Shreyas Talpade) who Aarti identifies innocently as “aap woh jo logon mein jhagda karate hain”. They are joined by a weepy-sweepy apsara (Rupali Ganguly, high on the shrill quotient).

From then on we are introduced, one by one, to Lord Vishnu’s 10 avatars that he assumes to save the world from some calamity or the other. Take the first avatar (Matsya the fish), for instance. The story starts with lightening and dark clouds that Narad explains to be the parlay (end of the world). Vishnu takes the form of a fish that is adopted by Rishi Satyavrata. Within a day, the little fish grows into a gigantic one and then Lord Vishnu appears and instructs the awestruck Rishi to gather every species of animal and plant in seven days and to keep them in a boat. This boat is taken to safety by the fish and Bramha creates the present world.

Other Vishnu forms, too, are introduced through such immersing stories—avatars like Kurma the Turtle, The Boar, Narsimha, Vaman the Dwarf, Parshurama the Brahmin, Rama, Krishna and also Kalki (in a spiffy jacket), the avatar we glimpse but is yet to be born on Earth. Of course, in exploring these 10 forms, we’re given a thorough mythology lesson of various eras because we sweep through bits of Ramayanaand Mahabharata as well.

Now for the cut: does Dashavatar make an entertaining watch? The answer is yes. It’s fascinating to watch the various forms that Vishnu takes to save the world again and again, told in the very effective voice of Shatrughan Sinha. But the only worry is that, while we usually complain of films not having enough story to tell, this one actually may suffer a story overload.

Ten different mini-tales in one film, each packed with various characters and sub-plots does become a bit taxing especially for those not well versed in mythology. For kids especially, the film may be a bit much, content-wise. The 2D animation is alright—it’s not spellbinding but one guesses the makers chose to concentrate on the core story rather than adding additional gloss.

Music by Anand Kurhekar is fun all the way. Director Bhavik Thakore does a great job telling the various stories interlinked into one, but the star of the show is the screenplay (Bhavik and Supriya Thakore) that juggles all these stories and fits them seamlessly into one.

My only grouse is the Mohini song, an item number, if we may dare call it that, where an animated girl, batting her eyelashes, appears to distract the asuras into giving the amrut to the devas. With lyrics like ‘aankhon se pila’ and close-ups of her legs and well, her walk, this song is a bit out of place for a kiddie film. Also, the stories normally follow a revenge-and-avenge formula, so that gets cumbersome after a while.

On the whole, considering the pros and cons, the film is a decent watch; far better than the other animations off late.