Kamal Haasan tells Rahul Gandhi he made Hey Ram to say ‘sorry to my Bapu’: ‘I was a bitter critic of Mahatma Gandhi, today I’m a fan’

“I talk a lot about Gandhi ji now, but it wasn’t right from the beginning. My father was a Congressman but my environment made me a bitter critic of Gandhi ji when I was in my teens. My father said, ‘Just read history, you are talking from today.’ But today matters, is what (I had said). He is a lawyer, but he didn’t argue with me on this,” the actor said.

Haasan recalled how he started drifting towards Gandhi and his teaching in his mid 20s and eventually decided to mount Hey Ram. The film followed an alternate history and depicted India’s Partition and the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi by Nathuram Godse.

“Around when I was 24-25, I discovered Gandhi ji on my own and over the years I have exponentially become a fan. To actually correct yourself and say sorry, that’s why I made Hey Ram, where I played a parallel assassin, wanting to kill Gandhi ji. As he goes nearer to the person–and the truth–he changes. But it’s too late, somebody else does the job that he wanted to but changed his mind. That’s the story of the film.”

When Rahul Gandhi asked, if he came up with the idea of the film, Haasan said yes and added, “It was my way of saying sorry to my Bapu. I have to take the onus of the crimes, including what happened in your family. We let it happen.”

At the 47th National Film Awards, Hey Ram bagged three honours: best supporting actor for Atul Kulkarni, costume design for Sarika and Manthra for special effects. The film, which opened to acclaim, was also India’s submission to the Oscars but was not nominated. The film was simultaneously made in Tamil and Hindi and featured superstar Shah Rukh Khan in a supporting role.

Last week, Haasan–Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) president–joined the Congress’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in New Delhi. Haasan, during a speech at the Red Fort, had said, “Many people asked me why I’m here. I’m here as an Indian. My father was a Congressman. I have had various ideologies and started my own political party but when it comes to the country, all party lines have to blur. I blurred that line and came here.”

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