Dasavathaaram (transl. The Ten 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, alongside an ensemble cast of Asin (in her penultimate Tamil film appearance), 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. All the while, 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, including chaos theory, butterfly effect, existence of God, casteism, Islamophobia, Vaishnavism, and determinism.

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, grossing US$46 million worldwide against a budget of US$14 million, becoming the highest grossing in Tamil cinema at the time. The film was the first in Tamil to surpass ₹200 crore worldwide gross.