It would be unfair of me if my blog passes without a single trace of the living legend Kamal Haasan. Recently Mumbai based UFO Digital Cinema Company has announced "contemporary living legend of the year 2007" to our great Universal hero. Though it is a rare honour which was awarded to Amitabh Bachan, Lata Mangeshkar, Dilip Kumar and few more previously, I feel its a bit late to bestow the honour to him. He is the only actor to have a record number of awards in his name. 171 awards in the lifetime spanning 47 years is extraordinary to hear. Though I share the same birth date as this legend, I always had a passion for his movies. His dedication towards his most lovable profession, CINEMA and his struggle to raise the par of Indian movies( not to say Tamil movies!) to an international level has always amazed me.
There once came a time when he almost refused to accept any more awards as his house was already flooded with many. Recently he was titled "Doctorate" by the Satyabama Deemed University for his passion for his work. Kamal, the humble person he is, said "Iam a illiterate person who has never crossed high school and this title has moved me to tears". He is the one person who does not make business out of his profession. He does not invest his money in any other field but Cinema. Being amidst actors who invest their "hard earned" money in real estate, complexes, theatres, marraige halls, Kamal stands out of the blue.
He is the very few actors who have acted and mastered all south indian languages and of course Hindi! There was a time where no south indian actors were well recognised in Bollywood. Kamal carved a niche for himself acting with all leading actors of his time, even with Big B.
His national awards count only 3 but people who have watched most of his movies will defintely feel he was worth many. His experimental films though bombed at the box office has always earned him "A" class audiences. His movies are no longer a commercial film. It started to teach the nuances in film making to young film makers. Each film he makes is very much different from his previous ones. He always says he wants to make a better film than his last film released, but truth is all his movies shine in their own way. Few films which did not make big were "Guna", "Anbe Sivam". Though he started as a dance assistant in early 70's he went on to play the lead roles, singing, screenplay, lyrics, story,choreography, direction, production which no other actor can just imagine. His dance talents came to limelight in movies like "Salangai Oli", "Punnagai mannan" which deserved National award obviously. Though he is an atheist, his "Anbe Sivam" came up with a different theme about love for God. He has shared his screen presence with many leading heroes like Rajnikanth, Shah rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachan, Rishi kapoor, Jayaram,Prabhu, Madhavan.
His on screen chemistry with his lead ladies is always worth mentioning. His combination with Sri Devi in yester years always made the cash registers ringing. Though he said to have more proximity over his heroines, he has always done it on the script's request. One of the few films is the suicide attempt in "Punnagai Mannan", "Mahanadhi" which needed those scenes for the story. Whatever controversy he is in, he always cares a damn and lives his life for himself rather than pretending. He is different from heroes who play heroes in "reel" life and extremely otherwise in "real" life. He has made remakes of other language films which is worth mentioning like "kuruthi Punal", "Vasool Raja MBBS" which were from hindi movies "Drohkaal" and "Munna bhai MBBS" respectively. The original director Govind Nihalni of "Drohkaal" appreciated the tamil version as "the remake which was original". Beside doing serious movies he has made many people's jaws relocated due to rib tickling comedy flicks like "Michael Madana Kama Rajan", "Tenali", "PKS", "Pancha thanthiram". His non-speaking film"Pesum Padam"(Pushpak) which made the talking made him showcase his versatile talent.
His first experimental movie was "Rajapaarvai" in which he played a blind man falling for a girl made people raise their eyebrows anxiously. His body language in each film changes according to the role he plays. His pain taking efforts for make up in "Indian"/"Hindustani" and "Avvai Shanmugi"/"Chachi 420" in which he played as a old patriot and a 60 year old woman!. For his movie "Alavandhan" he went on to get a commando training from army officers for his role in the film. He increased his body mass like a hulk for the same movie which has another psycho character which was amazing. One of the mysteries in Indian movies is still left untouched is the role of a dwarf he played in "Aboorva Sagothargal". And not to forget "Nayagan" which is a trace from "The God father" and which fetched him a National award. It was rated as one in 100 best movies of the century by the Times Magazine which is a rare honour for an Indian film. He is the first hero to convert his fan clubs to welfare clubs which still goes strong with many followers.
He has acted under almost all leading directors from Bharathiraja, K.Balachander, Mani Ratnam, Shankar, K.S Ravikumar, Singeetham Srinivasa rao, Sundar C, Charan, Suresh Krishna, P.C Sriram and himself!
His upcoming movie "Dasavatharam" is yet another milestone in which he plays 10 roles which is a record yet to be broken by any other actor. Surprisingly each role was given special attention such that he is not recognised by anyone initially. His starvation as a "Perfectionist" will be broadcasted in his big budget dream "Marudhanayagam". This movie still lying under the cans due to financial issues was inaugrated in mid 90's by none other than the British Queen which is a rare feather in his career cap. I wish I could see him doing more movies though is already more than 50. His works which was once not appreciated initially will certainly do the talking after a few years as Kamal is a legend who makes movies racing time. I wish the Thespian for the recent award for "Living Legend" which is a worthy and heart felt contribution to this Great Person!.
