Vishwaroopam(2013)

Vishwaroopam is a Tamil action film written and directed by Kamal Hassan. It is a story of a Indian under cover agent in the Al- Qaeda and how he stops an attack in the US.

Cast: Kamal Hassan, Rahul Bose, Andrea Jeremiah, Pooja Kumar,Jaideep Ahlawat.

Plot and Summary:

Viswanath aka Wiz (played by Kamal Hassan) is a classical dance teacher in the US. Nirupana(played by Pooja Kumar) is a Nuclear Oncologist, she is married to Wiz - a marriage of convenience which she explains in the beginning of the film to her therapist. She is secretly having an affair with his Boss. Nirupama sets up a detective to follow Wiz to know about his whereabouts and finds they he is a Muslim. Unexpectedly the detective gets killed by some sleeper cell member. The Sleeper cell members kidnaps Wiz and Nirupama and they plan to kill them. When Omar(played By Rahul Bose)sees the picture of Wiz he is shocked and rushes to the warehouse where wiz is held. Before he comes Wiz kills everyone and escapes.

At Home Nirupama is totally confused about Wiz's true identity. She is also shocked to find out that Ashmita(played by Andrea) , a dance student is a doctor and their uncle is a colonel. They finally meet Omar in a car chase and Wiz's History unfolds.

Viswanath is Wizam Ahmad Kashmiri a Tamil Jihadi in the Al Qaeda Pakistan providing training under Omar. The film follows the US invasion into the middle East and their struggle to hold them back. The narration jumps back and forth to the past and the present state in New York where Omar plans a nuclear explosive.

Wizam is an Indian spy in the Al Qaeda, in the time spent in Pakistan he becomes really close with the comrades, Omar's son and his family members. He ends up being responsible for the death of all of them. Kamal essays Wizam's role beautifully with conviction. Throughout the film Wizam is filled with guilt. He breaks down emotionally when one of the Al Qaeda member is held as traitor and killed for a crime Wizam was responsible for.

At times we feel that Wizam has become a terrorist all together. There is no indication in the film about the history of viswanath, how many years he has spent in the field. He becomes so involved in the act , such that he converts to an actual Muslim, he regularly prays even after taking off his cover. The characterization of Wizam is filled with so much intrigue, there are many untold stuff in the film like the origin of Wizam , how Wizam gets exposed. Though we see an answer to these questions at the end titles and there is a clear indication of a prequel to follow.

There is question which Nirupama asks to Wiz in her office when she finds out that whatever she knows about her husband is lies " are you a good guy or a bad guy" . This is a very famous quote being used in many of his films. Wiz replies saying he both " I am good and I am bad, I am the hero and I am a villain". Intentional or unintentional but his next hit was Uthama Villian.

Verdict:

At the end like in all Tamil film, the day is saved and the gang March on telling that this is not the end and the fight will go on .Vishwaroopam is not a typical film, it is has all the elements of an entertainer action emotion sentiment. 

Kamal is the central figure in the film, he plays this role in more subtle manner, underplaying his character when it is necessary. Unlike Dasavatharam which had a good story but the 10 characters were totally unnecessary , I mean it spoils the very motive of the film's story.

After watching it, I felt Kamal sir has really taken Tamil films to another level, Yes he has done it many times - Aalavandhan, Dasavatgaram etc. But this was in par with any Hollywood entertainer. A worthy watching film of all the entertainers which Kamal has ever done. Let's hope the prequel/sequel is also as good as this one.