Dasavathaaram

Dasavathaaram (transl. The 10 Avatars) is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language epic science fiction action film directed by K. S. Ravikumar, written by Kamal Haasan and produced by V. Ravichandran under Aascar Film Pvt. Ltd. It stars Kamal Haasan in ten distinct roles with Asin (in her penultimate Tamil film appearance and played in a dual roles), alongside an ensemble cast of Jaya Prada, Mallika Sherawat, K. R. Vijaya, Rekha Harris, Nagesh, P. Vasu, Raghuram, Napoleon and M. S. Bhaskar. In the film, a biotechnology scientist named Govind is forced to steal a vial containing a deadly bioweapon from his corrupt boss, who intended to sell it to a terrorist nation, and keep it contained. During that, Govind is hunted by an American mercenary named Christian Fletcher, an Indian police officer named Balram Naidu and a set of dark events. Several other people also get involved in Govind's journey and all their stories connect after the striking of 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, thus bringing philosophical views into the picture. The film incorporates numerous themes and philosophies, such as existence of God, Vaishnavism, casteism, determinism, chaos theory and butterfly effect.

The film, which had been under production for nearly three years, was distributed by V. Ravichandran. Primary filming locations included the United States and across Tamil Nadu in India. The songs were composed by Himesh Reshammiya, while the background score was composed by Devi Sri Prasad. The cinematography and editing were handled by Ravi Varman and K. Thanigachalam respectively.

After delays in post-production, Dasavathaaram was released on 13 June 2008 in around 1300 prints worldwide and received positive reviews from critics. Though its Hindi version was an average success, the film was a massive success at the box-office. Dasavathaaram is the first South indian and Tamil movie to surpass ₹200 crore worldwide box-office gross.