Kamal Haasan@70: What Makes Him Ulaga Nayagan

‘With
passage
of
time,
Kamal
did
move
away
from
the
humdrum
of
commercial
cinema,
using
it
only
as
a
peg
to
launch
a
new
concept
or
new
technology,
as
no
other
actor/film-maker
has
done
in
Indian
cinema.’
N
Sathiya
Moorthy
assesses
the
career
and
politics
of
movie
legend
Kamal
Haasan
on
his
70th
brthday.

As
Kamal
Haasan
turns
70
on
November
7,
Tamil
cinema’s

Ulaga
Nayagan
or
‘global
hero’
has
his
job
cut
out
for
him.

He
has
to
produce
a
box
office
success
all
over
again
to
erase
the
failure
of
S
Shankar’s

Indian
2
that
bombed
right
after
the
trend-setting
blockbuster,

Vikram,
again
carrying
the
same
title
of
his
path-breaking
sci-fi
of
the
time,
way
back
in
1986.

It
does
not
stop
there.

Having
launched
his
own
political
party
and
having
lost
his
maiden
electoral
test,
that
too
in
the
company
of
the
otherwise
victorious
DMK
combine
from
the
western
Coimbatore
constituency
in
the
2021
assembly
polls,
Haasan
has
to
redefine
his
future
in
politics.

He
has
to
decide
the
future
of
his
Makkal
Needhi
Maiyam
or
‘People’s
Justice
Centre’
in
leftist
slang,
ahead
of
the
Tamil
Nadu
assembly
polls,
due
in
2026.

There
is
nothing
to
indicate
that
the
DMK
leader
of
the
alliance
would
not
stand
by
its
commitment
ahead
of
this
year’s
Lok
Sabha
elections,
when
the
MNM
did
not
press
its
demand
in
the
seat-sharing
talks
but
settled
for
the
promise
of
a
Rajya
Sabha
seat,
when
one
falls
vacant
in
2025.

Granting
that
the
DMK
stands
by
its
word,
can
Kamal
leave
his
shrinking
number
of
followers
in
the
lurch?

Alternatively,
what
has
he
done
for
his
party
in
the
past
years
to
make
it
fighting
fit,
to
demand
a
certain
number
of
seats
from
the
alliance
leader
with
hopes,
if
not
promises,
of
winning,
even
in
the
company
of
other
partners?

These
are
questions
that
should
bother
Kamal
as
he
awaits
the
theatrical
release
of
Mani
Ratnam’s

Thug
Life,
their
coming-together
film
after
the
hugely
successful

Nayakan
(1987).

It
was
the
first
of
its
kind,
and
none
of
those
that
tried
to
copy
the
concept,
including
Rajinikanth’s

Kaala
(2018),
came
anywhere
close
to
the
script
that
Mani
Ratnam
had
sculpted,
along
with
its
packaging
and
presentation.

In
between,
Kamal
has
to
accept
the
inevitability
of
the
release
of

Indian
3,
which
no
one,
starting
with
the
makers,
is
sure
would
make
the
grade
like
the
standalone
original.

Social
media
reports
occasionally
have
it
that
the
film
may
not
even
have
a
theatrical
release,
given
the
poor
showing
of
the
second,
both
on
the
silver
screen
and
the
OTT
platform.

The
timing
of
the
release
of
the
film
can
make
or
mar
the
box
office
results
of

Thug
Life,
or
that
is
the
apprehension
in
some
sections.

Suffice
to
point
out
that
his
fans,
who
now
refer
to
him
only
as

Aandava
or
God,
taking
off
from
the
song,

Alwarpet
Aandava
(the
Alwarpet
locality
in
Chennai
is
where
his
family
home
is),
want
another
big
hit
from
him.
There
are
many
who
just
want
him
to
act
in
films,
and
not
get
involved
in
politics
that
they
feel
is
not
his
turf.

Yet,
there
is
none
in
the
Indian
film
industry
comparable
to
Kamal
Haasan,
born
Parthasarathy,
son
of
Congressman
and
advocate
Srinivasan
of
Paramakudi,
who
was
settled
in
Madras,
now
Chennai.

In
his
generation,
very
few
children
would
have
had
parents
who
would
encourage
a
young
boy
to
take
to
film-acting
as
a
prospective
career.

When
his
elder
brothers,
Charuhassan
and
Chandrahassan
became
lawyers,
the
young
boy
was
drawn
into
the
celluloid
world.

If
there
were
greater
thinkers
in
the
Indian
film
industry,
they
were
not
great
actors.
And
great
actors
rarely
had
the
time,
energy
and
inclination
to
branch
out
to
have
a
holistic
view
of
film-making
—
including
directing,
writing,
choreographing
—
as
Kamal
has
been
achieving
through
the
years.

Kamal
replaced
established
Bombay
child
artiste
Daisy
Irani
for
the
role
of
an
orphaned
Selvam
in
the
celebrated
AVM
production
house’s

Kalathur
Kannamma,
circa
1960.

Kamal
was
just
five
years
old
at
the
time,
and
became
possibly
the
youngest
artiste
in
the
Indian
film
industry,
at
least
at
the
time,
to
receive
the
President’s
Gold
Medal.

His
face,
full
of
innocence,
and
his
curious
eyes
were
as
captivating
as
his
mouth
sync
for
the
song,

Ammavum
Neeye,
Appavum
Neeye,
rendered
by
M
S
Rajeswari.
The
moving,
meaningful
lyric
of
T
K
Sundara
Vadhyar
would
have
been
too
much
for
a
child
of
that
age
to
comprehend,
personalise
and
emote,
but
Kamal
did
it
all.

There
was
no
turning
back
for
the
child
artiste,
who
did
a
few
films
in
Tamil
and
Malayalam,
before
the
inevitability
of
adolescence
interfered.

Kamal
himself
has
recorded
in
many
places
how
those
years
were
frightful
for
him
to
do
without
films
and
not
being
educated
enough
—
and
how
his
parents,
especially
his
mother,
Rajalakshmi,
boosted
his
sagging
morale
at
every
turn.

Serious
about
an
acting
career,
Kamal
did
not
waste
the
years
that
followed.

To
help
him
shape
up,
he
took
to
dance-training,
and
ended
up
being
an
assistant
choreographer
to
Thangappan,
father
of
multi-lingual
actor-director
and
choreographer
Prabhu
Deva.

Alongside,
the
teenager
was
also
evolving
into
an
assistant
director
as
well
as
appearing
in
minor
roles,
whenever
the
opportunity
came
his
way.

The
big
break
came
Kamal’s
way
when
he
appeared
in
K
Balachander’s

Arangetram
(1973).

Balachander
is
credited
with
shaping
the
careers
of
two
of
Tamil
cinema’s
greatest
actors,
Kamal
Haasan
and
Rajinikanth,
whose
paths
ran
parallel
but
never
really
met.
As
coincidence
would
have
it,
Balachander
was
the
one
who
introduced
Kamal
to
Bollywood
through
their
super-duper
hit,

Ek
Duje
Ke
Liye
in
1981.

Kamal
went
on
to
win
the
National
Best
Actor
Award
thrice,
for

Moonram
Pirai
(1983),

Nayakan
(1988)
and

Indian
(1997).
His
home
production

Thevar
Magan
with
Sivaji
Ganesan
won
the
National
Award
for
Best
Film
in
1992.

He
received
many
awards
for
his
acting
prowess,
so
much
so
after
being
crowned
the
Best
Actor
for
the
Filmfare
Awards
in
five
languages
for
the
20th
time
in
2000,
he
wrote
to
the
organisers,
‘Thus
far,
and
no
more’,
indicating
that
younger
actors
should
be
recognised
in
their
time.

For
its
part,
the
Centre
conferred
the
prestigious
Padma
Shri
and
Padma
Bhushan
on
the
‘epitome
of
Indian
cinema’.
It
is
a
title,
if
one,
that
some
fans
of
the
late
Guru
Dutt,
Raj
Kapoor
and
a
host
of
other
actors,
film-makers
and
others
would
contest
but
not
in
the
same
category
of
a
‘complete
cinema
man’,
which
Kamal
has
been.

In
an
era,
where
a
lead
actor
shoots
for
a
number
of
films
at
the
same
time,
unlike
the
present,
there
were
years
in
which
Kamal
acted
in
a
dozen
or
so
movies,
mostly
in
Tamil,
occasionally
in
Malayalam
and
rarely
in
Hindi
and
Telugu,
the
last
one
being
remembered
for

Maro
Charitra,
the
1978
original
of

EDKL
and
the
Jaya
Pradha
starrer,

Sagara
Sangamam
(1983),
where
he
portrayed
a
dance
master.

Kamal
acted
in
14
movies
in
1975,
18
in
1976,
19
in
1977
and
20
in
1978.

If
today,
Kamal
Haasan
is
credited
with
acting
in
possibly
the
highest
number
of
230
films
for
a
lead
actor,
the
commercial
base
rests
there.

Yet,
with
passage
of
time,
Kamal
did
move
away
from
the
humdrum
of
commercial
cinema,
using
it
only
as
a
peg
to
launch
a
new
concept
or
new
technology,
as
no
other
actor/film-maker
has
done
in
Indian
cinema.
The
prime
example
is
the
introduction
of
prosthesis
for
changing
the
facial
appearance
in

Indian.

Kamal’s
versatility
did
not
end
there.

As
an
actor,
he
could
handle
full-length
comedy
roles
with
the
same
ease
as
he
did
serious
roles.
This
can
be
seen
in

Panchathanthiram,
Pammal
Sampandam
and

Vasool
Raja,
MBBS.

In
the
remake
of

Mrs
Doubtfire,
called

Avvai
Shanmukhi,
he
appeared
as
an
old,
conservative
Brahmin
lady.
Called

Chachi
420
in
Hindi,
it
has
a
lot
of
comic
moments.

Kamal
wrote
his
own
story
and
script,
with
a
remarkable
eye
for
details,
and
his
repertoire
had
a
mix
of
serious
themes
and
comedy-of-errors:

Raja
Paarvai,
Apoorva
Sagodharargal,
Michael
Madana
Kama
Rajan,
Thevar
Magan,
Mahanadhi,
Hey
Ram,
Aalavandhan,
Anbe
Sivam,
Nala
Damayanthi,
Virumaandi,
Dasavathaaram,
Manmadan
Ambu
and

Vishwaroopam.

He
also
turned
lyricist
and
playback
singer
in
films
like

Virumandi
and

Vishwaroompam.

His
lyric
for
the
song,

Unnai
Kaanadu
Naan
Kanda
in

Vishwaroopam
was
for
a
Kathak
dance,
and
he
shared
the
voice
credit
with
Shankar
Mahadevan.

Kamal
began
his
playback
singing
with

Gnayiru
Oli
Mazhaiyil
in
the
film,

Andharangam
(1975).

With
every
movie
and
every
overseas
visit,
Kamal
has
been
evolving
and
discovering
new
techniques
and
technologies
for
adoption
here,
like
Akira
Kurosawa’s
1950

Rashomon
effect
in
the

Virumandi
(2004)
that
he
penned
and
acted
in.
It
was
only
the
second
such
attempt
in
these
parts
after

Veena
S
Balachander’s

Aandha
Naal
(1954),
when
film-making
was
in
its
infancy
in
Kollywood.

If
K
Balachander
left
an
indelible
mark
in
Kamal’s
growing
up
years
as
an
actor,
so
did
Sivaji
Ganesan,
whose
influence
and
mannerisms
no
Tamil
film
actor
of
his
generation
could
have
escaped.

But
he
also
developed
his
independent
style
of
acting
and
story-telling,
taking
the
best
of
the
two
and
creating
a
cinematic
universe
of
his
own.

Likewise,
the
Kamal-Rajini
combo
in
the
Tamil
cinema
of
the
1970s
and
1980s
cannot
be
side-stepped.

By
then,
both
had
come
to
represent
two
old
schools
of
Tamil
cinema:
The
Sivaji
school
of
acting
(Kamal)
and
the
MGR
class
of
commercial
success
(Rajini).
That
MGR-Sivaji
comparison
itself
had
grown
out
of
the
earlier
generation
compatriots,
namely
P
U
Chinnappa
and
M
K
Thyagraja
Bhagavathar,
the
latter
the
first-ever
super-star
of
south
Indian
cinema
of
the
1930s
and
1940s.

Starting
with
K
Balachander’s

Apoorva
Ragangal (1975),
in
which
Kamal
had
a
full-length
role
and
Rajini
a
cameo,
his
debut

filmi
appearance,
the
two
have
acted
in
a
total
of
16
films.
The
list
includes
the
path-breaking

16
Vayathinilaye (1977)
from
the
new-generation
film-maker,
Bharathirajaa,
who
took
Tamil
cinema
from
the
confines
of
the
studios
to
a
natural,
rural
setting.

The
last
time
the
two
actors
appeared
together
was
in
the
Amitabh
Bachchan-starrer,

Geraftaar
(1985)
in
Hindi.

Both
have
not
hesitated
to
clarify
in
public
how
they
sat
down,
discussed
and
decided
to
go
their
own
way
on
the
film
front
and
yet,
maintain
their
personal
relations.

Off-screen,
as
they
often
tell
audiences
that
they
have
been
consulting
with
each
other
on
personal,

filmi
and
even
political
matters
(the
last
one
confined
to
their
individual
desire
to
enter
direct
politics).

In
that
last
venture,
Kamal
did
not
seem
to
have
thought
too
much.
He
launched
MNM,
but
it
has
not
really
taken
off.

Rajini,
in
turn,
discussed
his
political
project,
but
has
never
launched
a
political
party
of
his
own.

The
two
friends
have
their
own
ideological
paths
too.

Rajini
has
often
identified
with
the
ruling
BJP
at
the
Centre
while
Kamal
Hassan,
an
Iyengar-Brahmin
by
birth,
is
a
self-confessed
atheist,
and
quotes
Periyar
and
Karunanidhi
in
matters
of
social
justice,
if
not
on
their
anti-god,
anti-religion
(read:
anti-Hindu)
stand.

Despite
close
personal
ties,
neither
has
influenced
the
other’s
ways
when
harassed
by
politicians
in
power.
In
both
their
cases,
it
was
veteran
film
actor
and
charismatic
chief
minister
J
Jayalalithaa,
who
was
the
cause
for
concern.
When
Jayalalithaa
contested
the
1996
elections
after
five
‘horrible
years’
in
office,
Rajini
openly
declared
that
if
her
ruling
AIADMK
returned
to
power,
‘even
god
cannot
save
Tamil
Nadu’.

Kamal
Haasan
was
conspicuous
by
his
deafening
silence.

Likewise,
when
Kamal
had
problems
with
the
Jayalalithaa
government
over
the
release
of
his

magnum
opus

Vishwaroopam
(2013),
Rajini
looked
the
other
way.

Before

Vishwaroopam,
Kamal
had
a
near-similar
bad
experience
in
the
making
of

Virumandi,
when
peripheral
caste
groups
tried
to
disturb
the
location
shooting,
protesting
against
the
original
title,

Sandiyar,
as
they
claimed
it
put
a
particular
southern
Tamil
Nadu
caste
in
bad
light.

Incidentally,
there
have
been
talks,
if
not
outright
attempts,
to
bring
them
together
for
one
last
time
on
the
silver
screen.

But
with
their
varied
acting
styles
and
advancing
age
—
Kamal,
70,
and
Rajini,
73
—
penning
a
script
and
finding
a
film-maker
capable
of
handling
both
to
a
rich

filmi
experience
is
not
going
to
be
easy.

On
the
personal
front,
Kamal
can
be
said
to
have
a
colourful
lifestyle.

After
divorcing
his
danseuse-wife
Vani
Ganapathy
after
10
years
of
marriage,
Kamal
married
Bollywood
actor
Sarika
after
their
first
child
was
born.

Though
the
parents
separated
not
long
after,
their
two
daughters,
Shruti
Haasan
and
Akshara
Haasan,
have
both
appeared
in
films.
Shruti
now
has
a
role
in
Rajini’s
upcoming
film

Coolie,
directed
by
Lokesh
Kanagaraj.

He
broke
up
with
yesteryear
actor
Gautami
a
couple
of
years
ago.

Today,
Kamal
Haasan
the
man,
his
mission
and
vision
are
at
the
cross-roads.

There
isn’t
much
that
he
has
not
achieved
in
his
long
years
in
cinema,
but
he
still
chooses
his
characters
with
as
much
as
care
as
he
did
in
his
formative
years.

Politically,
Kamal
and
the
MNM
remain
a
non-starter,
and
he
seems
to
have
understood
it.
Like
Sivaji
Ganesan,
whom
he
admired
and
at
times
aped,
he’s
had
a
faltering
political
step
but
it
does
not
matter
if
the
realisation
has
dawned,
even
if
belatedly.

N
Sathiya
Moorthy,
veteran
journalist
and
author
is
a
Chennai-based
policy
analyst
and
political
commentator.