The story behind Vishwaroopam of Kamal Haasan

Now that it seems that the hullabaloo behind the Kamal Haasan produced, directed and starred Vishwaroopam is likely to be sorted out as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J. Jayalalithaa has got into the act (no pun intended), the story behind the film can be narrated.

As we get into the analysis of the story of Vishwaroopam (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2199711/), it is but inevitable the plot of the movie will be partially or wholly disclosed - so consider this as a Spoiler Alert.
:-D

Though the Wikipedia article and Kamal Haasan fanboys on the net have been speculating that the story of the film Vishwaroopam is based on or a mix of the Hollywood thrillers Hannibal and Mission Impossible series, nothing could be far from the truth.

Kamal Haasan has been known to use Hollywood blockbusters as inspirations to create his own movies which nonetheless enthral the audience.  Though some suspect or realise the basic plot of the movie is inspired, the story telling and film making aspects of Kamal Haasan draws people to sit through and enjoy the movies.

There was

• the James Bond mishmash - of Dr. No, Thunderball and Octopussy - Vikram (விக்ரம்);
• the Jason Bourne novel inspired movie - of which I forget the name Vettri Vizha (வெற்றி விழா);
• the God Father adoption - Nayagan (நாயகன்);
• the Mrs. Doubtfire inspiration - Avvai Shanmugi (அவ்வை ஷண்முகி);

to name a few.

But to call Vishwaroopam as an extension of Mission Impossible series is seriously misleading the people.  Perhaps the fanboys do it to build up their hero - people who go in to watch a MI adaptation would find there is nothing in tune with that series of movies.

So let us look at the gist of the Kamal Haasan’s Vishwaroopam.

There is -

• a secret agent leading a double life;
• with reasons to believe his wife is having an affair;
• wife in turn suspects something else is wrong with the hero;
• hero has colleagues and friends who turn out to be fellow agents;
• while trying to probe into his affairs, both the hero and the wife are captured;
• they end up prisoners of an Islamic Terrorist planning to bomb mainland USA;
• wife is stunned to see the transformation in the hero while attempting to escape;
• their escape itself propels the terrorists to hasten up with their plan;
• the wife helps the hero to dismantle the bomb;
• wife and hero enjoy a romantic and sexy ever after.

Agreed that there is no daughter, the targeted city is New York rather than Miami/Florida, the hero is a dancer instead of a businessman, and there are no Harrier jump jets.

But even without them, isn’t it obvious that we are talking about the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie True Lies?

Oh yeah!  I forgot the most important difference.  There is no dog or the horse.
:-D



Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis captured by terrorist in True Lies.

Kamal Haasan and Pooja Kumar captured by terrorist in Vishwaroopam

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