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JJ Abrams once said, “As a director, all you ever want is to work with actors who make you look better, who make the work you do seem as good as it can be and even better than it is.” Now, there aren’t many actors who are consummate on this front, but one of the most prominent Indian actors to reach this pinnacle of perfection is actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan. For years now, he has elevated a film like it is nobody’s business, but it is also important to note that this didn’t happen right from his first film. One of the interesting facets in Kamal Haasan’s career is how he finds his few favourites among filmmakers, and trusts them to deliver films that not just work at the box-office, but also are quality products that would stand the test of time.
Interestingly, Dadasaheb Phalke award winner and Kamal Haasan’s guru K Balachander once said, “I did not teach him everything he knows. He just absorbed everything I knew. The rest he discovered himself by asking, probing, begging, watching, observing, reading, demanding, investigating, improvising, experimenting, experiencing, learning and not being afraid of stretching himself beyond his own limits.”
Having started his career as a child actor, Kamal transitioned to playing roles as an adult with K Balachander’s Arangetram in 1973. It was befitting that his big litmus test as an adult was titled Arangetram. Interestingly, from 1973 to 1981, there never was a year when a Kamal-KB film didn’t release in the theatres. The foundation of what was to come was laid at this school. He played a doting lover, a person in a taboo relationship, a Casanova, a sensitive hero who is consumed by the all-encompassing love, an unemployed youth frustrated with society, and an expert musician touring the world. This was Kamal’s primary school of sorts where he could make mistakes and fall without a safety net. But at the back of his mind, he knew, come what may, he will always have a role in a K Balachander film.
Post 1981, there was a brief gap, till they reunited with Punnagai Mannan in 1986 and Unnal Mudiyum Thambi (1988). It was like Kamal left while he was in primary school, only to return to the same institution as a guest teacher with the required expertise.
Of course, the films with K Balachander pushed the envelope of characterisations, but Kamal Haasan needed a filmmaker to push him out of his comfort zone in terms of physicality. He needed to be stripped off his ‘strength’ of being a handsome actor. He needed to deglam before this was even a thing. And that is when a debutant filmmaker called Bharathiraja decided to make 16 Vayathiniley. The film had Kamal Haasan play a naïve village bumpkin called Chappaani… I mean, Gopalakrishnan. The film opened up the gates for filmmakers, with a sense of holistic vision, to approach Kamal with their scripts that would require him to change his looks, dialogue, persona, etc… In fact, Bharathiraja also portrayed Kamal Haasan as a suave urban serial killer in Sigappu Rojakkal to balance the characterisation in 16 Vayathiniley. A few years later, he was a photographer unearthing a nefarious scheme involving supermodels and diamonds in Tik Tik Tik. It is ironic that Oru Kaidhiyin Diary, which was their final film together, was at its heart, quintessential mass masala film that wasn’t exactly the style of this combination, but became a success nonetheless.
If there was one brand of filmmakers that Kamal Haasan truly revelled in, it was with the auteurs who had complete command over the craft and wanted to tell untold stories in their own way. Probably why Kamal Haasan and Balu Mahendra got on like a house on cinematic fire. It was clear why Balu Mahendra wanted Kamal Haasan to star in the lead in the Kannada film, Kokila, which was the former’s directorial debut. But watching the gripping narrative unfold, it was clear why Kamal Haasan wanted to be a part of the film too. It was an emotional drama that was still cinematically rich. The visuals were exquisite, and the film ‘looked’ different despite still being about two men, and a woman in their lives, which was by then a trope in many Kamal Haasan films. Then, Balu Mahendra gave Kamal Haasan one of his most seminal roles and the first National Award for Best Actor in Moondram Pirai. His Srinivas aka Cheenu became the role that would top whatever he’d done so far in Tamil cinema. He made Kamal reprise the role in Sadma, the Hindi version of Moondram Pirai, and it was still the embodiment of ‘Rose by any other name…’ And it is beautiful how after all those years, more than a decade later, this combo reunited for Sathi Leelavathi, a laugh riot that was… wait for it… about two women, a man, and a friend caught in the crosshairs.
For all intents and purposes, Kamal Haasan was one of the pioneers of the pan-Indian movement in Indian cinema. Of course, he had his base in Tamil cinema, but even at the heights of his stardom, he never shied away from shedding the superstar image and try different things in other languages. Kamal Haasan also had the fortune that he worked with some of the most accomplished filmmakers of Indian cinema in their most important works. When K Viswanath, the doyen of Telugu cinema, wanted to cast a star who could dance like a dream, and act like a beast in Sagara Sangamam, he knew whom to cast. When he wanted to make a film about a naive man who was deeply in love with the woman that cared for him in a world that wasn’t accommodating him in Swathi Muthyam, he knew whom to cast. And when KV decided to step in front of the camera for a relationship drama about the purity of unadulterated love, respect, and reverence in Subha Sankalpam, he knew whom to cast.
To take a leaf out of today’s lingo, KV and KH ate and left no crumbs.
Even as the films with K Balachander, K Viswanath, Balu Mahendra and Bharathiraja were satiating the performer in Kamal Haasan, and of course, gave him box-office success, the actor knew the importance of churning out the ‘mass family entertainers’. And there was just one name he trusted in the 70s and 80s; the one director who was instrumental in him becoming an actor when he was just a 5-year-old. As the ‘act’ in actor was satiated by the aforementioned filmmakers, SP Muthuraman took care of floating the commercial boat of the ‘star’ in Superstar. Even if years later, Kamal wasn’t comfortable with the kind of films he was doing in this period, there is no doubt that these films gave him the wings to experiment, fail, experiment more, succeed, experiment a lot more, fail and win alternatively, and yet find a way to do what he wanted. Of course, they did their share of intense dramas like Oru Oodhapoo Kan Simittugiradhu or the action drama Aadu Puli Aattam, but this combination will always be known for its Sakalakala Vallavan, Thoongathey Thambi Thoongathey, Enakkul Oruvan, Japanil Kalyanaraman, and their final collaboration, Per Sollum Pillai. These were the ‘easy’ films but if you look close enough, they were anything but. There was a layer of ‘enhanced performance’ in all these roles, but the heart of it was masala, and it ushered in the era of Kamal Haasan balancing both his wishes and the market forces like a boss.
What truly defines Kamal Haasan’s relationship with his filmmakers is the respect he gives for their vision when he brings them onboard to fulfill his. Sometimes, it is all about the vibe. That is why, his films with director Suresh Krishna were very angst-driven and yet quite upbeat. It was also probably because they were of the similar age. After working with filmmakers who were atleast a decade older than him, he was finally able to express himself without explaining much. That is why, when he decided to remake the 1985 film, Arjun, Kamal believed his guru K Balachander’s assistant Suresh Krishna was the right choice. Here was a filmmaker who learnt the craft from the same school, imbibed the sensibilities of Hindi cinema, and understood Kamal. That is why, once again, almost a decade after Sathyaa and the comic caper with a dark twist, Indrudu Chandrudu, Kamal Haasan trusted Suresh Krishna with his ambitious Aalavandhan. Now, with the films of Kamal Haasan, there is no point in bringing in box-office results. It is all about legacy, and what was one of the highlights of this combination? Quentin Tarantino revealed that he was inspired by the film to can a few scenes in his iconic Kill Bill series. Now, that’s legacy.
There is no doubt that it was Malayalam cinema that made him a ‘hero’ first. Even today, Kamal Haasan talks about Malayalam industry fondly, and is considered as an elder statesman of the Kerala cinema. As an actor who enjoyed grandeur, vision, and pace, Kamal Haasan found director IV Sasi to be that perfect foil. Just like KB, Sasi also directed Kamal Haasan in three different languages — Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi — and all their collaborations were ambitious. Who’d have thought to make an Aladdin film in Tamil and Malayalam, and cast Kamal in the titular role? IV Sasi did. Who’d have thought to make a Batmanesque vigilante film with Kamal in the titular role? IV Sasi did. And who gave Kamal his most iconic role in Malayalam cinema through the hard-hitting Eeta? IV Sasi did. Oh, and he also remade Tik Tik Tik in Hindi as Karishma with Kamal Haasan reprising his role.
More than anything, IV Sasi, one of the most prolific Indian filmmakers, gave a huge canvas to Kamal Haasan to ply his wares. It was almost like Kamal ticking the boxes of his childhood — playing Aladdin and conjuring up the magical genie, playing Batman and vanquishing villains.
If IV Sasi helped Kamal Haasan tick the boxes that he might have had as a child, there was one filmmaker who helped him tick the boxes on his wishlist as an adult. When he wanted to play a blind violinist in a romantic drama for his 100th film, Raajapaarvai, Kamal wanted Singeetham Srinivasa Rao to direct it. When he wanted to play an unemployed youth for the umpteenth time but wanted it to be a silent film in Pushpaka Vimana, SSR directed it. When he wanted to play a dwarf for the entire length of a film in Aboorva Sagodharargal, SSR was his partner. When he wanted to play four characters in a comedy of errors in Michael Madana Kamarajan, well… you know what would have happened. During the trying times of the industry, when he wanted to do a ‘simple’ and yet timeless comedy in Kadhala Kadhala, Singeetham stepped in. And of course, when he wanted to experiment with using the digital camera for the first time, and wrote a heist film with oddball characters that were definitely a risky affair in Mumbai Xpress, Singeetham was already there.
Kamal dreamed; Singeetham executed. And they became a combination that would not just stand the test of time, but would be the gold standard.
If the captain of the ship of Kamal Haasan’s dreams was Singeetham Srinivasa Rao, the Chief Mate was KS Ravikumar. Not every dream had SSR steering the ship, at times, it was KSR. And those voyages weren’t easy sailings either. Their first collaboration was the comedy, Avvai Shanmughi, which featured Kamal Haasan as a wizened old woman who has to win back the love of his estranged wife and daughter, and turn down the romantic aspirations of two distinct gentlemen. Then, they did the comedy caper Thenali, which saw Kamal Haasan play an Eelam Tamil person who battles internal fears, and finds love in the times of treatment. Interestingly, most of their films were essentially comedies, written by Crazy Mohan or Kamal Haasan, and every collaboration was box-office gold and top-tier additions to Indian cinema’s finest funny films. Panchathanthiram was their crown jewel, and Manmadhan Ambu fell under the ‘so close… if only’ category.
Oh, and between all of this, they did Dasavatharam, which featured Kamal Haasan in ten roles.
It is beautiful how Kamal Haasan was best directed by the man who knew him best… Kamal Haasan. Of course, he made his directorial debut with the Hindi remake of his very own Avvai Shanmughi, but his first Tamil film established that Kamal Haasan was a serious filmmaker.
Hey Ram is an important chapter in the pages of Indian cinema. He wasn’t just another filmmaker trying to deliver hits. He was doing something much bigger. It is still one of the greatest films made by an actor in Indian cinema. It was going to be very very tough for anyone, including him to match the scale or the vision of Hey Ram.
Four years later, Kamal Haasan made Virumaandi. Now, it is, of course, up for debate if Virumaandi is greater than Hey Ram, or the latter still holds the top position. But make no mistake, it is an argument worth having. The craft, the content, the performances, the music, the making, everything came together like a wonderful symphony in both Virumaandi and Hey Ram. Two contrasting films, two contrasting styles, and one man stood on top of it both proclaiming to the world that there is none like him.
Eight years later, he made Vishwaroopam, which was a global spy thriller. A period film. A rural action drama. A slick urban film. It is interesting how his three films with himself were as different as chalk from cheese, and yet, highly intimate and reflective of his principles.
As Aamir Khan once said, “There are some things he can do that others can but there are many things Kamal can do that no other actor can.”
Basically… What next for the man, who is presently in the USA learning Artificial Intelligence, and how to use it in films?
As always… everything.
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