Thinking Out Loud

I was surreptitiously wiping my eyes as I left the cinema, overcome by melancholy. I had just witnessed Kamal Haasan's (KH) exploration into his own mortality and superstardom. I have to provide an unbiased review. I should... but the emotionality is so overwhelming I find myself holding back tears as I reminisce on the utterly magnificent "Uttama Villain" (UV). The meta-nature of the film strikes multiple chords with KH's own life. Reality and art become so hard to distinguish, they start to merge as one. The narration switches between Manoranjan's life (as he tries to come to grips with his imminent death) and "Uttama Villain" (the film-within-the-film that parallels Manoranjan's life). The following are rather my observations than a review. Synopsis: An ageing superstar (*cough* *cough*) diagnosed with malignant brain tumour, chooses to act in a film in which the protagonist (Uthaman) inadvertently cheats death and is hailed as a "Mrityunj