'Dasavatharam' release slated for April 10

The stage is set for the release of Kamal Haasan's magnum opus 'Dasavatharam', scheduled to be released on April 10, according to producer Oscar V. Ravichandran.

He told mediapersons that it has been decided to have 975 prints as of now and the number may touch the 1,000-mark by the release date. He added that the film has been produced at a cost Rs 55 crores.

Sony has bought the copyrights for the film's music for Rs 2 crores. Two lakh CDs are to be released. Each CD is priced Rs 99, the highest for any Tamil film, it is said.

The star-studded function to launch the audio will be held on March 14 at the Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai. Action hero of international repute, Jackie Chan has given his consent to attend the function and release the audio. Ravichandran and his brother Ramesh Babu, who is the distributor of Jackie Chan films in Tamil, had met the martial arts legend in Hong Kong last week.

K.S. Ravikumar has directed the mega movie and Himesh Reshammiya has scored the music.

Post-production and CG (computer graphics) work is fast nearing completion.

Kamal's ten roles are those of an ordinary man, a traditional 12th century Vaishnavite called Rangaraja Nambi, a scientist, a 90-year old Brahmin lady who is a dwarf, an eight-feet-tall giant, US present George W Bush, a sardarji (who is paired with Jayapradha), a dark-skinned man from Tirunelveli, a Chinese martial arts expert and a white man who is a villain.

Asin plays a dual role in the film. In one 'avatar' she plays an Iyengar woman draped in a traditional nine-yard sari opposite Kamal's Nambi character. She also appears as a modern girl paired opposite Kamal's character of the ordinary man towards the end of the film.

Sources close to a team engaged in post-production work rave about the song sequences of "Kallai Mattum Paarthal Kadavul Theriyaadhu" sung by Hariharan set to music by Himesh Reshammiya.

The thematic song was picturised near the Ennore port and Uthandi on East Coast Road in Chennai. A gorgeous set resembling a Vishnu temple was erected on the beach, spending crores of rupees. The scene shot here depicts King Kulothunga Cholan (played by Napoleon) of Cholamandalam (12th century) ordering his men to throw the idol of Lord Ranganatha into the sea and Rangaraja Nambi (Kamal), an ardent devotee of Vishnu, holding on to it. Kamal reportedly rehearsed for this scene for about 15 days, hanging from a rooftop from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. It is said that about 8,000 junior artistes wearing costumes belonging to the period were used for the song, "Kallai Mattum…". The shooting of this song lasted for 45 days.

All those who worked for the film are full of praise for Kamal's dedication and hard work. In a raving comment, Ravichandran himself said that after the movie is released, Kamal's name will be etched in the history of world cinema for the next 100 years.

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Dasavatharam