It is not often that a top star chooses a script in which his character is a stain-toothed village reject with a limp, especially at a time when his career is in the early stages. But the Tamil audience is familiar with actor Kamal Haasan’s oeuvre. What we may not know is that the limp this character has — the naive, repulsive and yet endearing Chappani from director Barathiraja’s 16 Vayadhinile — is Kamal Haasan’s improvisation and was not part of the script.
You must have laughed out loud when Kamal’s character, dressed like lord Shiva in a scene-within-a-scene in the film Pammal K Sambandam, gives a hilarious reason for not remembering his lines while staying in character — the irony of it not lost on us viewers. But did you know that the particular dialogue was indeed inspired by some of the stunt persons he has interacted with? “They’d say, “What sir, you’re asking for a somersault and for the knife to be picked up at the same time… that dialogue came from there,” he shared with actor Vijay Sethupathi in a recent 1.5 hour-long live chat hosted by film reviewer Abishek Raja on Saturday.
If you claim to be a die-hard Kamal Hasan fan, do you know how many fractures he has sustained over the years? Also, did you know that Kamal, who is now known for his distinct, yet somewhat hard to understand, writing style in Tamil, began speaking the language only when he was in class seven or eight? “Even today, if I am making spelling mistakes in Tamil, it is because I used to take down Tamil class notes in English,” Kamal chuckled. Surprised?
Tamil cinema’s Ulaga Nayagan shared many such details from his life, his thoughts on fame, what drives his love for cinema — “the thought of watching the film with an audience is what I love the most, not direction, not acting…” — the idea behind his political party Makkal Needhi Maiam and more, in the live interview by Makkal Selvan Vijay Sethupathi.
From his friendship and rapport with directors like Balumahendra, Ananthu, RC Sakthi, Balachander to his memories in working with legends like Sivaji Ganesan and Kannadasan to his thoughts on his politics today, the live chat covered a wide range of topics with Vijay Sethupathi throwing himself at the Q&A opportunity, with a student-like enthusiasm.
“Did you ever think the audience might reject or make fun of you when you did Chappani?”; “What gave you the confidence to pull off Aboorva Sagotharargal?”; “Do you ever talk to yourself when you are alone?”; “I’ve heard from Nasser sir once that after completing Hey Ram, you were indeed penniless. How did you go ahead and do it?”... Sethupathy piled one question after another, with eagerness to crack and study one of Tamil cinema’s most treasured actors.
For Kamal, Hey Ram was an important film. “I find myself biting my tongue listening to the dialogues today. I may have been too bold,” he chuckles. The actor also sounded deeply philosophical on questions relating to amassing wealth and losing one's fame.
On his most ambitious and long-pending historical drama Marudhanayagam, the seed for which was sown in 1997, Kamal shared, “It is indeed true that if the film has to be made, it is money that I need. But I may also have to rework the script. The character I had in mind is a 40-year-old man. I will either have to rewrite it or cast someone that age,” he said. The actor, however, added that he has written 'Chinna Kansa' a ballad on the events that take place after Kansa's death. "I like it a lot," he added.
On the topic of his politics, Kamal explained the meaning behind naming his party Makkal Needhi Maiam: “The word ‘maiam’ (centre) has taken a hold of me. I am fond of the word and its meaning,” he shared drawing references to the eye of the storm and being in a meditative state as some of the word's multiple meanings.
He also spoke about how he had to wait to reach a certain age before entering politics. “I waited for the right situation and for the right age. I wanted people to refer to me as ‘ivar’ and not’ ivan’. Especially here in Madras people easily refer to someone using the (disrespectful) singular. It is one of the reasons why my father never came to Madras to practise his law,” he said.
Kamal also spoke about the lockdown situation: “Tamil Nadu government is not respecting volunteers and NGOs. There is no use in just requesting contributions. If the numbers (COVID-19 cases) were to increase, we will all take to the streets for a revolution so that the government takes better measures to curb the spread. Selfish politics should not sow the seed for a revolution like this.”
Watch the full interview below: