America, 2012. A marriage of convenience.
Vishwanath alias Wiz (Kamal Haasan), a Kathak exponent, and Nirupama (Pooja Kumar), get married. Each have an agenda and seem to have achieved their wishes in three years of matrimony.
Nirupama gets her Ph.D and Wiz runs his dance class inNew Jerseyunhindered by each other. All is fine till Dr. Nirupama aspires for more and wants to opt out of the arranged marriage. She confides with a psychologist that hers was a marriage of convenience that provided her a safe haven for pursuing her Ph.D in theU.S.A.
The age gap between them notwithstanding, she is put off by Vishwanath and is attracted to her boss, Deepak (Samrat Chakrabarti). She cannot cite any specific reason to leave Wiz as there is nothing much to complain about him.
Every male according to Nirupama must have a flaw. So she decides to find out something about him to feel better about her decision to part. She hires a detective to rake up something on him. Wires get cross-connected and all hell breaks loose.
Vishwaroop opens up with a dazzling Kathak dance. Scenes where Kamal Hassan displays his stunt skills give goose bumps. It begins well and proceeds at a breakneck pace till the interval. It takes it time to establish the Afghan episode in first half, then it picks up dramatically. You won’t realize that it ends so soon.
The story also has an Afghani Al-Qaeda Jihadi Omar (Rahul Bose), his accomplice Salim (Jaideep Ahlawat) and their international terror network who plots to attack the city ofNew Yorkwith a “Cesium-bomb”.
Doubting whether her husband has secrets of his own, she hires a private investigator to trail him. She learns from the private investigator that her husband is not a Hindu but a Muslim. In a sudden turn of events, the investigator gets killed by a terrorist outfit led by Omar.
It is then revealed that Nirupama’s boss Deepak was ensuring funds for the terrorists.
Omar and Vishwanath have a past, one that takes the story back by almost a decade, to the Al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. Vishwanath alias Wisam Ahmad Kashmiri has his origins in India.
It has other characters like Vishwanath’s uncle (Shekhar Kapur), American accomplice Dawkins (Miles Anderson) and the young dancer Ashmita (Andrea Jeremiah).
The story moves forward in a frantic page going back and forth, and towards the end Vishwanath is directed by the Prime Minister of India to put in his best to avert a catastrophe.
Then it is Vishwanath (alias Wisam) who gets co-operation from the FBI to take down the terrorists and defuse the Ceasium bomb.
Technically it is the best Indian movie; be it in content, cinematography, sound, art and editing and the direction by Kamal Haasan.
Kamal Haasan’s transformation is just remarkable. He is one of the finest Indian actors. Rahul Bose is quite impressive, while the others – Pooja Kumar, Andrea and Shekar Kapoor are perfectly cast in their roles.
Cast:
Kamal Hassan – Vishwanathan / Kashmiri (Wiz)
Rahul Bose – Omar
Shekhar Kapur – F.B.I. Agent
Pooja Kumar – Dr. Nirupama
Andrea Jeremiah – Ashmita
Jaideep Ahlawat – Terrorist
Nasser – Terrorist Leader
Zarina Wahab – Psychiatrist
Samrat Chakrabarti – Deep
Miles Anderson – Dawkins
James Babson – Tom Black
Jude S. Walko – Captain Joe
Greg Sammis – F.B.I. Agent
Credits:
Studio – P.V.P. Cinema & Raajkamal Films International
Directed by Kamal Hassan
Story – Kamal Hassan, Atul Tiwari
Screenplay By Kamal Haasan
Produced by Chandra Haasan, Kamal Hassan, Prasad V. Potluri
Executive Producer – S. Shanmugam
Producer (USA) – Jude S. Walko
Line Producer (USA) – Teddy Yoon
Original Music by Shankar Mahadevan, Loy Mendonsa, Ehsaan Noorani
Cinematography by Sanu John Varughese
Film Editing by Mahesh Narayan
Casting Director – Valerie McCaffrey
Production Design by James R. Cunningham
Art Direction by Ilayaraja, Nancy Terryn
Costume Design by Gautami Tadimallaa