10 Different incarnations of Lord Vishnu. Each life having multitudes of stories, sub stories and legends. Indian mythology is filled up with myths and stories about all this. It is not very easy to cut down all those information and create one flawless free flowing story on screen. However, Dashavatar excels in that. Period.

It starts with 2 kidnapped kids who run out of the trap of the goons. They take shelter in a Krishna Temple where they are saved by a pujari who is actually “Naradamuni” in disguise of the pujari. After the goons are kicked out by him, he takes them to “swarga” (heaven) and tells the story of Lord Vishnu and his 10 Incarnations.

It talks about all the avatars starting from Matsya to Lord Krishna. Each era, each hero is explained in details but in pace so you know everything and even do not get bored. Once all the initial avatars are over where we are not aware of much details due to our lack of Indian mythology, things get more interesting when movie reaches to the Story of Bhakta Pralhad and Narsimhvavatar. After that with the introduction of Parashuram, the movie reaches interval.

The first half can have mixed bag of reactions from different age groups. Though the second half takes it to another height as there are more familiar stories about Shri Ram, Shri Krishna, etc.

Even attempting this movie was kind of suicide. As we call it its like lifting the “ShivDhanushya” and the director has done it well. Hats off to the screenplay writer who has woven the narration so flawlessly flowing. The director deserves applause for the perfect HIGH TORQUE prensentation of so much huge subject.

Apart from that the animation is of international standards. It is even better than wht Toonz have shown us till now. Better than Hanuman and all previous movie. That is the level Indian Animation has reached today.

They have used 3D portions seemlessly wherever necessary with the basic 2D format. That is something new. This happens when the director understands that the medium is just a method or tool to present the story and it shall not overshadow the actual story. Nowhere you feel that you are watching a cartoon film or kids film. That is what animation film should be. We need to explain Indian public that animation is not for kids only. It is a medium which has unlimited possibilities which can portray never before seen visuals which are not possible (at least in our budgets) in normal cinema.

There are 2 high points of the movie as per me.

First is Narsimhavatar. It is orchestrated so beautifully and at the climax of that story a marvelous crescendo of audio visuals immerses the audience totally in the experience.

Second is “Vishwarupdarshan” or display of divinity by Lord Krishna to Arjun. I mean I was so stumped by it that I felt like I am watching it actually. That is what is called as cinematic experiance.

The background music is another important part of this movie which is as important as the visuals. The music director Anand Kurhekar has fabulous job on it. The songs are good and used intelligently to take the story forward (Narasimhvavtar, Ramvatar, Krishanavatar, etc.).

In the voice over by Shatrughna Sinha is used for narration. The other sutradhar of the story are the 2 kids, Naradmuni and the apsara. The boy voice is not very good and it sometimes artificial accent irritates. Also same with the Apsara. The best voice acting is done by Sachin Khedekar. That is a perfect casting. Sheryas Talpade as Narada is also good. Everyone has done justice to their part.

I must congratulate Percept Pictures which is no synonymous with animation films in India to support and distribute this film. They have done excellent promotion and I hope the movie shall pick with word of mouth publicity.

Too small kids will get afraid because there are too many rakshasas and to many fighting scenes which was obviously unavoidable. The dark portrayal of those can get the smaller kids to cry. I think the movie is perfect above 10 age group and mostly 10 to 20 and then 35 and onwards will like it very much. So this becomes a perfect movie for full family.

Apart from cartoon channels, this movie can find place in religious channels also due to its detailed portrayal of stories in “Purana”. The older age group people will love it. I recommend the “Vishwarupdarshan” the most for them.

So to get your lessons in mythology in most enjoyable way, visit your nearby theatre and watch “Dashavatar”.

BR Rating: ***
BR Verdict: Good!
BR Recommends: Recommended to full family. See your Gods in action!

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 14th, 2008 at 8:26 am and is filed under Hindi Films Review, Bollywood Films Review, Indian Films Reviews, Indian Movie Reviews, Hindi Movie Review, Bollywood Movie Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.