Interestingly, Asin has a double role to play in the film. She plays a woman from both the 12th century as well as the 21st century. Incidentally, in both the roles, she plays a Brahmin woman. The film's USP is Kamal Hassan who plays as many as ten different roles in the film. Another female lead in the film is Mallika Sherawat.
"Asin walked into a role which was originally meant for Vidya Balan", says an industry insider, "However, due to date issues, Vidya had to walk out of the project and Asin stepped in."
He maintains that consenting to work in Dasavatharam really helped Asin's standing in the industry. "She gained a lot from the film since her performance was appreciated on a scale similar to that of the Tamil version of Ghajini. The Hindi version of Ghajini arrived only later (in December 2008) and since then her stocks have been on a rise."
In the film, Asin plays the characters of Kothai Radha and Andaal, opposite Kamal Hassan from the 12th and 21st century respectively.
The story of Dasavatharam revolves around a research scientist who loses a biological weapon of mass destruction in the United States of America. The weapon is also sought by an ex-CIA officer for his own use. This is when the scientist and the ex-CIA officer begin a cat and mouse chase to gain possession of the weapon.
"The film is an out and out commercial affair and was made at a cost of close to Rs. 60 crores", says a trade expert from Chennai, "After its release, Dasavatharam became one of the biggest blockbusters in the history of Tamil cinema by breaking records across the globe. Moreover, majority of reviews were positive too about this film that traversed centuries."
A film which has a running time of close to 3 hours, Dasavathaaram took close to 3 years to reach the finishing line after being in the making since 2005. One of the highlights of film was the much hyped soundtrack that was composed by Himesh Reshammiya.
The film was released in Tamil and Telugu in June 2008 but Hindi version has taken quite some time to arrive. This time around too, it seems more out of chance than choice since producers v/s multiplexes strike has resulted in non-arrival of any new Hindi movies. This is why Dasavatharam is seeing a sudden release coming Friday.
Well, it only works for Asin fans that were left asking for more ever since she made her Bollywood debut with Ghajini last year. Now with Asin being seen in a double role in Dasavatharam, it should only be double the excitement for the audience.