Music and Cinema has always struck me , hurt me and had an impact and influence in my heart. And being a citizen of a country which produces largest number of movies every year, i always wanted to cherish good cinema. One among Indian film makers who had a great influence on me and many is Kamal Hassan. I would like to share with you, some of wonderful intellectual nuances he carried out in his films. Well, there are many, i chose only a couple which has so many in it. Hope you enjoy reading it. And the reference for this blog is a book written by my fav author Mr. Chaaru nivedhitha.
Ive chosen two good films. Hey raam and Viswaroopam. Two extraordinary films but supposed to be i two extremes when its financial result are concerned.
Hey Ram :
Kamal Haasan’s body of works can be broadly divided into two categories: Hey Ram and non Hey Ram. Such is the effort, brilliance and technique put into the work. An epic film does not necessarily mean high production values and a period setting. Any film whose intentions and strides are of mammoth proportions qualifies to suit the genre. Hey Ram, by all means, not only qualifies but even has the power to top the genre.
Movies that last a lifetime are the ones that are rooted in the culture of their country of origin, but deal with themes that are contemporary and universal at the same time. By culture, I not only mean traditions and practices of the country but also its inescapable history, politics, its figures, its events and the social impact of those. A prime example would be Florian Donnersmarck’s Das Leben Der Anderen (2006) (aka The Lives of Others), a film that firmly had a foot in political chaos of the post war Germany, its political ideologies and restrictions imposed due to the same, but spoke about the universal concept of art and humanity. Not over a handful of movies have come out from our country that handles these issues with solemnity. One such film, Kamal Haasan’s Hey Ram is arguably the best Indian film of all time.
In the following work, I would try to dissect the film and present an analysis of the film, though in no way, exhaustive. The film is fraught with symbols, metaphors and allegories that become clear only on multiple viewings. I have tried to cover them wherever applicable. I have tried to give the key images while trying to explain those scenes and also the conversation transcript wherever necessary. English translation of the same has been provided for universal access. Please feel free to agree/disagree at comments section of the relevant posts. I have provided a downloadable version of the same analysis at the end of the series of posts.
It would be of interest to note that the film was being made when another Kamal film had already kicked off, Marudhanayagam. So, naturally Kamal was into a thorough research on the freedom movement and its obscured characters. Hey Ram presents one such, perhaps fictional, character that was, though not instrumental in changing the course of history, an inlet to the mind of the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi.The year is 1999. A dark room. The room opens as the doctor enters. A few sunrays barely make into the room revealing the elderly figure that is lying on the bed. He is surviving on an artificial supply of oxygen. Who is, in a few seconds, revealed to be the old man’s grandson, Ram, is sitting next to him. Suprabhatam, which is essentially a wake up call for God, is being played in the background as though waking the old man up. This is the starting point for the string of references to God and man’s relation to God in the film.
Archaeological Society of India Recreational Club, Karachi. A party like atmosphere is around. Saket enters alone whereas Amjad alights from the car with his wife Nafisa and kids. Amjad’s father asks both Amjad and Saket not to go out of control and return home quickly. Everything is cordial between Saket and Amjad’s family. We also come to know that Nafisa ties a Rakhi every year to Saket and Amjad is like a brother to Saket. This point will be elaborated later in the movie. We also meet Lalwani, a jocular Sindhi industrialist who is friends to both of them. There are jovial discussions about the partition and everybody seems to have an opinion. It is here that the background of both Amjad and Saket are revealed. Saket is a Tamil Iyengar from South India who is married recently to a Bengali woman. Amjad is a Pathan who had stayed who had finished his graduation in the Madras Christian College along with Saket and Lalwani, hence his knowledge of Tamil. His wife Nafisa is also a Tamil Muslim. This is revealed in a nice bit of dialogue between Amjad and a certain Mr. Bright:
"Mr. Bright: I always wonder how Lalwani and Amjad can speak in a Dravidian language…
Amjad: Same Alma Mater sir."
This reply from Amjad is not just indicative about their college but the country itself.
August 16, Calcutta. Saket arrives at the railway station and takes a taxi to his house. He is surprised to see what is going on around: A large scale riot with masses of people running here and there. He also seesAltaf, his tailor among the Muslim rioters. Altaf recognizes Saket and makes way for the taxi to go. Upon inquiry, Saket finds out that the riots are indeed due to the partition claim by the Muslims of Calcutta.The taxi manages to get out of the riot and reaches the calm and serene surroundings of Saket’s apartments. Saket asks the guard to bring his luggage up as he goes to his floor via the lift. He finds that many shops had to close because of the riot. He reaches his flat and plays a prank on Aparna (Rani Mukherjee) who gets frightened and takes up a pistol. When Saket reveals who it is, she gives his a slap and tells him that there is a telegram for him. He asks her casually whether it says that his father is ill or if he is no more. She says that it is worse than that and reads out the telegram. We find out that his father has called him back and has asked Saket to marry a girl they have chosen for him. It is here that we find that Saket is cut off from his parents and has left them for good. He has not even mentioned about Aparna and his later life. On Aparna’s apprehension, Saket promises that he will never marry another girl.
It should be noted here that the film has heavy overtones of religion, especially Hinduism and a lot of parallels are drawn between Saket’s life and the Hindu culture. These will be denoted whenever they appear. Hindu tradition mentions for vital stages of a man’s life – Balya (Childhood), Grihasta (Marital life), Vanaprastha (Exile/alienation) and Sanyasa (Relinquishing worldly things for salvation). Saket has just entered the second stage, Grihasta and is in the marital bliss. But he is unaware that this stage is a short lived one.Another Hindu concept running parallel in the film is the rights and duties of the male of the species. As a man, one has to protect his wife from evil which is in essence the responsibility of masculinity. As a man who was helpless in saving his wife from the clutches of evil, Saket is hurt by his impotence and uselessness. Thus, he is determined to justify his masculinity and is out to slay the violators.
And my favourite dialog from the movie is,
Abhyankar: “If killing is wrong, then so is war. So is it wrong to fight in an army during the war.”
Saket: “But I’m not a soldier. I’m a civilian.”
Abhyankar:”This is a civil war, brother. And now, we are all soldiers.”
And now it is to Viswaroopam :
Now, it can be safe to assume that almost all would have seen Vishwaroopam. Alongside critical technical acclaim, it has grossed numbers that other film makers could only dream of. To gross such figures, a movie needs to be commercial so that it could reach all segments. Is Vishwaroopam really a commercial movie? At first glance, many would say “Yes”. But that’s where the smart and suave Kamal Haasan has handled it with dexterity. In essence, the actual backbone of the movie is the Afghan frames. But having it for the whole length of 2.5 hrs with a huge overdose of subtitles would have been a risky proposition, though it would have been a real treat for the purists. That’s where the Kathak dancer and the RAW agent Kamal make it a really engrossing movie for all classes.
Despite this, the movie has an enormous number of nuances which makes it a really classy movie. You can easily understand and appreciate Vishwaroopam even in your first watch. But similar to how the beauty of a peak can be experienced in its entirely only when you reach the summit, the brilliance of Vishwaroopam can be felt when you uncover the sublimely stated content. Most of the scenes have an underlying thought or aspect which could be noticed only if you relate the various scenes and dialogues. I have herewith consolidated a whole list of nuances observed by me and my friends. After reading this, I know for sure you would be tempted to revisit the movie again (like how it happens with all Kamal Haasan movies).
Theme based Nuances
1) Kamal Haasan mentioned in an interview that the one liner of this story was an inspiration from Virata Parva of the Mahabharata. If we try to relate it now, in fact, Wisam’s character is a mix of the mythological Arjuna (who, transforming into a eunuch in Virata’s Kingdom, is an acclaimed dance-exponent) and Bhima (who is a great cook, and so is Wiz in this film). His uncle/boss Shekhar Kapoor is like a mentor, much like Krishna to Arjuna. And, Mr. Kapoor is aptly named Jagannath (another name by which Lord Krishna is known)!
2) If we observe the movie carefully, it has a very subtle take on Money Laundering
In the scene before Taufeeq introduction, we can see Opium plants (they are not rose plants). Taufeeq says he is a farmer and hands over ‘abin’ as gift to Wisam. The safe inference is that drug peddling is one of the main source of funds for Jihadi operations. Afghanistan is one of the biggest illicit producer of Opium, which previously played a major part in the funding of Taliban
This money finds its way through banking system of less monitored countries like Nigeria, Yemen and the currency is routed to countries like US outside the banking system – One example is the Deep Research Oncology accounts, many of the accounts are imaginary customer names (not actual customers who buy equipments)- So fake orders are created and the drug money is routed to US; This is apparent in the scene where Deepak hides the money in the safe and remarks that the US banking system does not believe his customers
3) Pigeons in Title scene:
At the end of the titles, the pigeon left by the old man ravels to Bull (Financial heartland), then to wall street buildings and then reaches the place where Nirupama meets the psychiatrist (observe the window pane), in a way this connects the aspects the story deals with- Al Queda/Taliban, financial control (oil and assets) and Nirupama. In the same scene, if we observe carefully, a pellet is tied to the pigeon’s legs. So the radiation exposure through pigeon has even been exposed in the first scene itself.
At the end of the titles, the pigeon left by the old man ravels to Bull (Financial heartland), then to wall street buildings and then reaches the place where Nirupama meets the psychiatrist (observe the window pane), in a way this connects the aspects the story deals with- Al Queda/Taliban, financial control (oil and assets) and Nirupama. In the same scene, if we observe carefully, a pellet is tied to the pigeon’s legs. So the radiation exposure through pigeon has even been exposed in the first scene itself.
4) First dialogue of The Godfather – I: ” I believe in America; America has given me fortune”; First dialogue of Vishwaroopam: ” I believe in America; Inga dhan enakku vimojanam nu thonithu”;
Indicates the deep within love of the writer Mr Kamal Haasan for Godfather.
Nuances relating to Vish (Kathak dancer sequences)
1) When Nirupama meets the psychologist in the first scene, she asks “Please talk me about phd” and she says “Ur phd”- This indirectly conveys that Vish also might have got a phd (or they think so)!
2) The name Vis: Nirupama calls Vishwanath as “Vis” and says that everyone calls so and hence she also calls him so assuming it to be short form of Vishwanath, But in fact, it is actually the short form of Wisam; The name Vishwanath has been intentionally chosen by Wisam so that even if people call him by his abbreviated real name, still he would not be in trouble.
3) Effeminate: In the whole Kathak dancer Kamal scenes, his effeminate quality is brought out better through the following dialogues.
When he picks the phone, he always says “”Mrs. and Mr. Vishwanath’s residence”.
As an extension of that, while cooking meat he says: “Manavaatiye Manaalan-in baagyam” as opposed to the traditional “Manaalane Mangayin Baagyam”
Also, when Deepak says to Nirupama “Athaan daily saapudaraye avar samayala”, it clearly shows that Nirupama exploits him for being effeminate by making him cook every day, abstaining from sex etc. This further substantiates the “It was a marriage of convenience” statement further!
4) In the “Unnai Kaanathu song”, there are 2 shots – one from other side of glass and the other some distance away- In both the cases, the audio’s volume would reduce, such a brilliant practical take! During the line ‘Vidhai illaamal Vaer illaye’, Vish imitates DNA structure with his fingers.
In Unnai Kanadhu song, when the line “Unnai kaanamal” comes 4 times continuously before the first pallavi, Vish is shown as imitating removing his ornaments – necklace and bangles.This one actually indicates the reference of bangles loosened and removed indicates the separation. Also, in certain ideologies of Vaishnavam, Its assumed that Krishna/Vishnu is the ONLY Male and ALL the devotees are female. So we can take that meaning too!
In the scene after Unai Kaanathu, Vish hears the phone call and hence asks them to avoid falling on this feet as he rushes away, but while he picks the call and talks, they still somehow manage to find his feet and touch the same with great difficulty, he gestures 2 girls not to touch but they do and even then the 3rd one still falls on this feet, nice detailing!
5) Statue: In Wiz/Vishwanaths residence we can see a black two sided statue, with one side as king and the other side as queen. In the kathak sequence, the statue is placed against the mirror showing both sides of the statue in the same frame. It represents the role of Wiz in the movie- with double identities (Effeminate dancer and as the RAW agent). When the male and female are together, it indicates that they are holding a secret. In the second half first sequence, where Kamal’s identity is revealed, the combination is split indicating that he is no longer effeminate.
6) Winter Season: The season shown in the movie is Winter, with all scenes co relating it- Be it snow in window pane of Vish, the girls after practice putting on their jerkins/coats; in the same scene, Vish asks them to close the door when leaving and not give him pneumonia as a guru datshanai, Vish comes freezing inside the home when Deepak is inside , All characters wear winter clothings, the warehouse patients ask Farooq and team to close the door when Vish and Niru are dragged inside. I could not find even one scene where the attire did not resonate with the season!
7) In the Obama Democratic National Convention speech video, Obama says “Taliban’s momentum has been broken” indicating Osama’ death. In the bottom of the screen, you can see a news flash saying “Petroleum prices increased by 3%”. Fantastic satire.
8) Dinner sequence nuances:
In the initial dinner scene where Colonel Jag comes, Asmita asks Vish “ Nirupama dinnerku varamattaanu Akashvani sollicha?” and Vish says “Exactly”, this indicates that they might have used radio technology for bugging Nirupama’s office;
Most objects in Vish house have a concept relating to a tree or branch – Observe the stands near to the phone, observe the sequence when Niru comes in late in the night, you can see the objects. Also, a pink bag is seen hanging in the stand when the students leave the home after the class; Later in the dinner scene, when Asmita and Dawkins elave, they are found placing the jacket next to the pink bag, brilliant attention to details
In the same sequence, the MI6 agent Dawkins says “Hope it doesn’t turn out to be a wet job tomorrow”. In secret service (CIA/MI6/KGB) terms, wet job means murder or assassination. Infact when the next day starts, its infact wet and they have a job in hand to be accomplished! Amazed!!! As Dawkins leaves with Ashmita, he looks at Wiz and says: “Goodnight Cuckold“. The word means ‘the husband of an adulteress, often regarded as an object of derision.’ It’s another allusion to the fact that everyone has figured out that Niru is cheating on Wiz.
Infact, the MI6 agent Dawkins might be Kamal Haasan’s tribute to Richard Dawkins, a prominent biologist and author who is highly regarded by rationalists
9) Opening Scene isn’t a flashback, it leads to the future: The brilliance of Kamal Haasan’s script can be understood in this opening scene where Niru talks about her marriage to the psychiatrist. Within this, there are 2 sub scenes
A scene in Deep oncology research where Deepak tries to block Niru and talks something. This is when Nirupama tells about Deepak to the psychiatrist.
A scene in the downtown where Peter is talking in phone to Niru that he is going to follow Wiz. This happens when Niru talks about her plan to hire a detective on Wiz
Both the above mentioned scenes might look like flashbacks of incidents that already happened. But if you observe closely, you can see that they are scenes that happen after Nirupama’s conversation with the psychiatrist. Co relate the scenes and dialogues and you would understand. The scene with Deepak is the one that happens before Deepak asks Niru out for dinner. They are wearing the same clothes. The call that Peter makes to Nirupama is after seeing Wiz heading somewhere (post his meeting on the street with Jag, Dawkins and Ashmita). Peter is wearing the same clothes when he is shown for the first time and Nirupama is also wearing the same red color night dress. We know that Wiz’s dance class is sometime in the evening. But it seems that he might have be having a morning batch as well. After the morning dance class is when he goes to the mosque. Here is the actual flow of events
Nirupama sneaks into bed late night. At that time, she is not shown as wearing the overcoat for her night suit.
She wakes up in the morning (not shown). When Peter starts to follow Wiz, he is shown as taking his cellphone and making a call. The conversation is not shown. It is clear that the conversation that he had is the one that is shown during Niru’s discussion with the psychiatrist. If you recollect from that Niru-Psychiatrist scene, you will see that when Niru attends Peter’s call, she still does not have the overcoat on and is attending the call sitting in the bed.
Wiz walks into the mosque.
A shocked Peter makes a calls to Nirupama. Now she is seen coming downstairs (recollect Niru going upstairs to the bedroom?) with her overcoat on to start the proceedings for the day.
From the timeline and also Dawkins’ action of reading a newspaper, it is evident that it is a morning. And from Peter’s statement “class mudinju” indicates that Wiz had a morning batch too.
10) We can see detective Peter’s visiting card lying next to the monitor in which Omar see’s Wisam’s photo. The card was last seen by Omar only.
11) In the scene where they are taken to the warehouse, Farooq asks Niru wat her husband’s real name is for which she replies Farooq. This is because in the previous scene, Deepak asks her why she sent her detective to Farooq’s place. Though Niru does not know Farooq earlier, this is a good example of instant recollection of names based on what we hear some time before!
12) Brood from the past: In the warehouse and the scene before, when asked for his name, Wisam quotes his name as “Taufeeq” and “Nasser”, these are the names from his dark past and for whose death he feels he is responsible for and the guilt has profoundly impacted Wisam that he recollects their name instantly.
In the scene where Niru talks to Deepak seeing detective Peter’s death news in television, she starts telling “My husband is” but Deepak interrupts and only after he comes to her home, she continues that convo telling her husband is a Muslim!
13) Transformation Scene nuances: The whole transformation scene (first action sequence) of Vish has been pictured between the moment two water drops fall from the wall. Nirupama is in a state of shock when she sees it all happening in a moment but then recollects all events transpiring between the fall of two water drops.
The water drops are shown at the start of this sequence, they are shown when they fall in Farooq’s eyes and even in the end of this sequence when all are dead, we could just hear a water drop fall (shows the tranquility of the place after all are dead)!)
14) Before the transformation scene, Vish wears a yellow top and suddenly you see him wearing a checked shirt with the yellow top in tatters and he falls down to the floor. It implies that Farooq and other guys have keep beating him and his yellow top is torn; Quick and crisply shot!
15) Farooq is hurt in the knuckles by Wisam’s teeth when he tries to hit him on his face. This is the reason why Farooq is not able to hold the gun properly and get a clean shot at Vish when he transforms and attacks Farooq’s men.
Salim tells Farooq to shoot Wisam in his legs. He also instructs Farooq to kill Deepak “Illai illai…mudikka sollittaaru”. At this point Deepak asks “naan polaamdhane?” for which Farooq smiles. We don’t hear what Salim says but it is apparent that he instructs Farooq to shoot Deepak, as he ends the call with “kaal-la illai…thalaila”. I bet many of you would have missed this last line;
Also, in an earlier scene, Salim asks Omar if Deepak can go for which Omar replies yes. But Salim misses conveying this information to Farooq and in the meanwhile, things turn crazy and they feel the need for eliminating Deepak!
16) And just like how Wizam says “ketta kudiye kedum”, Farooq whose hand is already injured, gets his hand chopped off as well. A co relation that I bet is so easy to miss!
Similarly, While Niru tries to call the cops and Deep avoids it calling her a fool, Deep says avangale varattum, Later he tells “Nalla kaalam Illai, thank god”, so symbolic of what is going to happen to him as its not good time for him and hes going to die in the next scene! Superb!
17) In the scene where Vish tells Nirupama to hear 2 gunshots and count to ten after taking the car, she infact starts counting 1, 2 for two gun shots and continues counting from 3 instead and hearing repeated gunshots counts faster too, A panic mind so realistically captured!
18) After Farooq hits peter we hear a long foghorn, so the warehouse must be near the sea. When wizam shows the location of warehouse to Tom (FBI), we find that in the map, it is actually near the sea
Nuances relating to Afghan Scenes
1) Wisam Intro Scene: Not sure how many could read through the paper ad in Wisam’s introduction scene. It reads
“Border of Indian Nationals in kashmir; Conspiracy to murder Indian nationals outside India; Attack on a Kashmir Government Office”; Also in Nationality, it shows “Indian?”- a satire on how the nationality is in question for people living in Kashmir
2) In the scene where Wisam, Omar and Salim travel to Afghanistan, its shown very clearly that the flag transitions from Pakistan to Afghanistan flag clearly indicating the infiltration mode (even for people who missed reading the name of the places at the bottom and the dialogue that Nasser says over the move in to Afghanistan); A shot of both the flags in shown then indicating clearly its the border
3) Dr Clara: In the scene where Dr Clara arrives to treat Mrs Omar, we find the wordings “Medisin sans frontiers’. Translated into English, this French word means, “Doctors without borders”.
4) Weapons Over Love: This is another little gem of a scene: Omar tests a blindfolded Nasser about various weaponry. The moment Omar hears about the NATO strikes, he along with Salim leave the place not bothering to remove the blindfold.
It’s Khadija, Omar’s wife, who comes along and removes the blindfold. It illustrates the difference in perspectives of the father and the mother of Nasser
5) In the scene where the young Jihaadi Mamoo is first introduced to Wisam as a young Jihaadi, he bangs at Wisam while Wisam expecting a gentle embrace! Shows a subtle difference in styles, cultures and between old and young practitioners!
Also, in the scene where they take group photos with Nasser, Nasser is seen talking to Mamoo; It shows how Mamoo is preached to be a Jihaadi by the top guys!
6) Ban Entertainment: If you observe in the Afghan portion in the scene where small children are seated near guns in the shop and they weigh bullets, youu can find a very old film poster- this shows very clearly how entertainment is banned here and how they are miles away from whats happening in real world as far as entertainment (and even in all things) is concerned- the same thought was shown in the scene where the boys are punished for dressing up as girls and dancing
7) Swing & Swaying: There is a scene shown where Wisam tries to push the Swing for Omar’s small son, who says “I am not a child” and walks away from the swing, But the older Mammu sits and asks Wisam to push the swing. This indicates the contrast of the characters. While the younger boy is more mature, has his own interest and does not want to be swayed by others, the older Mammu wishes to be swayed by others and not surprising ends as a suicide bomber; In the same scene, light flashes on his face but his eyes are closed (conveying that he doesnt wish light in his life!)
8) In the “Thuppakki engal tholile” song, when they shoot at Bush’s photo, first the team members shoot. Then Omar shoots Bush’s right eye. When Wisam shoots, he raises the gun a little higher than Omar and shoots Bush’s left eye. In the pic you can see Bush’s left eye at a slightly higher elevation. Ultimate perfection!!
9) In the scene where the innocent Afghan people are killed and Anu Vidhaitha Boomiyile song starts, if u notice clearly, on left of frame, you would find a Mickey mouse article; Mickey is a pride of the Western Branding, but also shows there might be an American or European casualty inside and it is indeed true as we find the French doctor Clara found dead.
10) Another way of looking at the scene where the doctor Clara is dead . In the same scene, we find a young boy dead and Wisam removes the gun from his hand. Next, he is seen attending to the doctor Clara. While everyone around is badly bruised and experiences the debris from the bombings, the doctor just has a shot in her temple!! Any alarm bells ringing for you - Ya, the young boy could have indeed shot the doctor as a retaliation for someone in his family being killed !!
11) One more scene where the info is quick to grasp- the NATO bombing scene by the suicide bomber Mamoo; A paper shown in that frame states that the NATO base is a hub for counter terrorism and intelligence operations and among the dead was the agency’s base chief
12) Symbolism: In the scene where Taufeeq is introduced to Wisam, Omar talks about Taufeeq to Wisam and tells Taufeeq is very useful. While saying that, Omar eats something and throws the tissue away symbolically indicating that Taufeeq could be used for their benefit.
13) In the scene where Osama appears, Wisam in anticipation of seeing Osama appear from underneath goes back (since he is shorter than Salim) but the sight of the hugely tall Osama appearing makes Kamal retract and come forward, such a beautiful scene and the nuance is well captured!!!!
14) Imtiaz: If we observe carefully, Imtiaz- the other guy who helps Wisam in Afghan sequences actually appears in most of the Afghan sequences. He is present even in the first Afghan scene where they take a photo near the horse; He prays along with Omar and team, he is even taken to the Osama hideout place but stopped near the entrance. He is also the one who is driving the car that takes an injured Omar at the end of the first half.
15) Munnavar: The guy who is supposed to collect parcel from the antique shop Munnavar is even shown in the scene where Osama comes; Infact this is the scene which exposes the key strategic guys of Al Queda- Munnavar, Osama, the ISI guy who assists and a Mullah Omar look alike; Munnavar is gonna collect the parcel from antique shop, so Munnavar has got to do a lot with strategizing and disbursing the content in parcel based on the need, which place is gonna be attacked, where and whom it needs to go etc! So there’s more to the parcel than what meets the eye!
16) Osama- The real Target: And coming to the golden goose, Not sure how many understood that the whole effort was to catch Osama bin Laden! Prior to the day of Taufeeq’s arrival, Omar tells Wisam that a tall Sheikh is coming, it is very obvious that through the tracker, the attempt is to reveal Osama; It is substantiated when Wisam is seen enquiring about Osama all the time, how he would escape, who would take care of him etc, Smart direction at its zenith!
Nuances relating to US Raw Agent Scenes
1) Contrasting perspectives within RAW: Vish, Asmita and Jags work for the same mission
But in the dinner ending scene when Obama talks about Osama, Asmita takes the side of Americans while Both Vish and Jag take a sightly pro Afghan stand (Vish-” Ipdiyaa peethikarathu, manushanga saava ipdiyaa deepavali aatam kondaadarathu”), Jag (obama ratings a etha vendaama, athu asarangaloda annan thambi pondaati pillai kitta kelu) while Asmita says “nambalukku enna kavalai”
Even though they are in the same mission, they have different perspectives on whey they approach the task! The reason could be that Jags and Vish were part of this operation since the start while Asmita might have been roped in recently, this also shows the grounded balanced perspective that Wisam and Jags have over Asmita!
2) The Nigerian terrorist Abbasi is seen shaving his public hair
Underlying Thought: Muslims purify corpses by washing the skin and nails and sometimes by shaving the pubic hair. But suicide attackers are deprived of a proper burial, since there are usually no remains. To compensate, the attackers shear themselves ahead of time, both to guarantee some level of cleanliness at the time of instant incineration and to prove extreme devotion to personal purity. An alternate explanation is that suicide terrorists adopted the no-hair practice from the Pashtun tribesmen of Afghanistan, who shave their bodies before going into battle. Hair removal is mentioned in Islamic law as a method of maintaining personal hygiene.
3) Explaining Faraday Shield: Not many understood the Faraday shield concept in the climax; The dirty bomb could be detonated directly or through a call made to the phone placed in the device. Nirupama fears that someone could activate the device by placing a call hearing the gun shots. In essence, Omar tries to activate the device even when within a plane. A simplest Faraday shield would be a microwave oven. A microwave needs to be powered on only for heating the food inside by emitting microwave. The shield around the microwave prevents that emission from affecting you. This shield is just a metal shield and does not work on power. It just prevents radiations. That’s why when Omar calls, he gets a number not reachable message indicating that the Faraday shield has indeed worked
4) Wisam is airlifted by the army once he is shot by Omar (would be shown in detail in part 2, a preview was shown at end of part 1). Prior to that, you can see Wisam running with flares, which is to indicate his location to the helicopter.
5) Before boarding the private jet, Salim is shown asking the flight attendant (no dialogues here…but he points to his mobile) if he can use his mobile phone from within the aircraft. This is obviously to detonate the dirty bomb if needed
6) Attention to Details: The number that Omar dials to detonate the dirty bomb starts with “201? which indicates an area code within NY. When Salim opens his purse to take out money to pay the toll, on the left, you see a group photo with Wisam and Omar’s family. On the right, you see a New Jersey state driving license. Brilliant attention to details.
7) A panic struck Nirupama is unable to come to grips with Vish’s transformation and seeing everyone playing a double role. She thus misinterprets the house warming fire as something burning inside the house when infact Colonel Jags is shredding confidential materials (Irundavan Kannukku arandathellaam Pei!)
Also, in the same scene, Niru packing her bag is shown! Everyone would expect her character to change suddenly. But, as a woman and a home maker, she focuses on packing her clothes even in this situation.
8) When Wisam, Nirupama, Jag and Ashmita are about to enter the basement, you can see a photo of Vaamana avatar on the side wall. Vaamana is the Vishnu Avatar who was known for Vishwaroopam in mythology
9) Video Surveillance: In the scene where Vish is led to the lab, Niru says to left and Vish tells “Ya I know”, it shows very clearly they have even video surveillance of this place and maybe even insiders too
10) When Nirupama asks “Neenga nallavara kettavara?”, for a split second Kamal Haasan gives the Velu Nayakkar expression to the same question asked in the movie ‘Nayakan’
11) In the first scene of people with geiger counters in the park, there is no one with guns. Later based on Wisam’s input, they shoot down some pigeons. The shooting is not shown but you can now see 2 men with guns with the team that has the geiger counters.
12) Abbasi and Fund Transfer Explanation: I think many missed out the Nigerian terrorist Abbasi part and the funds exchange portions of it
In the scene where Wisam, Asmita and Niru search the computer at Deep Oncology research for customer names, they find Abbasi’s name. A huge shipment is to be delivered to him from India and seeing the amount transferred to him, its clear he is gonna explode the largest dirty bomb planned (as per an earlier scene, the apartment is not dirty bomb as per Wisam).
The source of funding is mentioned as Nigeria; Since no customer exists in Nigeria, Nirupama says it must be Yemen (This is because Deepak told her earlier in the first half scene when they keep the money in the safe that these money come from customers in Yemen, Middle East).
13) And in Deep Oncology office after Wisam asks “Endha kadavul?”, when they move to another room, we can see a statue of a 4 horse chariot. I think it is Arjuna’s chariot. Rings a bell? Virata paruvam.
14) In the climax scene, there are 2 instances where transitioning happens btween Abbasi and Omar! First the window of Abbasi is shown with FBI targetting it and when you assume its his window, it immediately transitions to Omar’s window with Omar seeing saleem’s car arriving! In a similar way, it transitions back from Omar and salim praying to Abbasi praying, well shot!
15) Blood bath: The blood oozing out of Nigerian terrorist Abbasi’s body is not symbolic. It is a classic example of superior pyrotechnics used by a thinking director – just imagine someone shot a few times at various body parts, first the blood comes out and is free flowing however since he has fallen in a position where his shirt and outfit prevents free blood flow, it acts like a dam and once the quantity of blood surpasses the resistance made by the outfit, which obviously takes a few seconds, they ooze out with such flow
16) Reflections have been used brilliantly throughout the film like
In Unnai Kaanadu song, reflection on audio player and reflection of New York skyline including a temple like US building in the glass
Nirupama’s reflection in the laptop screen when she is talking to the psychiatrist
Reflections of the boys getting flogged in Wizam’s and Omar’s sunglasses in thupakki engal tholilae song
Reflection of a house being blasted on Omar’s sunglasses during war scene
Omar’s home on fire reflecting in his sunglasses
When nirupama gets in van of the NEST team, reflections of FBI people climbing upon the metal stairs
When Omar waits for Salim in the end, Salim’s reflection on the tv set when he arrives
17) Abbasi’s window curtain is shown open when he shaves. He doesn’t close the curtains. When Abbasi returns after buying chicken, the 2 NEST guys are seen talking about Abbasi. In the background you see Abbasi’s apartment, where the windows have the curtain open. When Wisam and Tom arrive at the scene, we see the apartment window’s reflection in the NEST van, with the curtains still open. Abbasi is later shown closing the curtain when the FBI team uses the dragonfly spycam. Fantastic continuity.
18) A lot of the actions/props are shown atleast twice in the film. Sample illustration:
A burnt Mickey mouse doll in the village that NATO attacks;
Mickey mouse on Nirupama’s t-shirt which she wears during the transformation scene
Pigeons in Afghan;
Pigeons in NY
Omar imitates shooting Wisam in the head; Later he imitates shooting his son and Salim in the head
Wisam is shown doing a parkour doing an early morning time or evening in the Thupaaki engal tholile song; He does another parkour in daytime in the VR-2 trailer
Everyone knows well about the shooting on the head imitation by Omar. But most would have missed Salim’s shooting imitation. He first does it at the start of the training song when he, Wisam and Omar pickup heavy stones and throw it forward. He imitates shooting using a machine gun at the ground; Any guesses on when he is shown doing it again? He does it again at the end of the film in the VR-2 trailer when Wisam is shown doing a parkour stunt for the second time.After Wisam jumps down from the wall, you can see Salim charging in imitating the same machine gun shooting action. He is shown from the back though without revealing his face, but the same action of shooting imitation that he does earlier in the Thupaaki engal tholile song, reveals that it is Salim for sure.
Swing scene of Mamoo and Nasser; After Mamoo’s death, Nasser is shown in the swing.
Wiz’s hands tied in the warehouse; Wiz’s hands tied up to a chair in the VR2 trailer
Now if you feel that you have missed out a huge chunk of it, do not worry; Kamal Haasan films always need a repeat watch to appreciate its beauty! You would be surprised that a seemingly commercially appearing film like Vishwaroopam has many layers to it like Hey Ram did! Have great fun watching it again!
