A Family Affair

When the Habitat Film Club screened Hey Ram on popular demand,the legendary Kamal Hassan made a quick stopover in Delhi to chat to members about movies and his illustrious and mind bogglingly long career,spanning 50 years in the Indian film industry. “I was five when I first acted in Kalaththur Kannamma,” said Hassan. He went on to win the National Award for the best child actor and there was no looking back after that.

The indefatigable Hassan is all set to release his film Unnaipol Ooruvan,which is a Tamil adaptation of Neeraj Pandey’s A Wednesday. “A 26/11 hurts me and I can’t keep quiet in these crazy times. I have to voice my opinion and I am going to do this through my own interpretation,” said Hassan.

And it’s going to be a family affair; Hassan has both his daughters working with him on the project. Shruthi Hassan,whose debut film as an actor,Luck,bombed at the box office has composed the background score for her dad’s film.

“Shruthi is going to do what she does best. Music,” says Hassan firmly. His younger daughter Akshara has choreographed a dance video in the movie. “Akshara is a trained classical dancer so it was appropriate for me to use her,” says the doting dad. So the family saga in Bollywood continues. Whew.