Suhasini Maniratnam would ‘beg’ uncle Kamal Haasan to wear pants while dropping her to college: ‘I would be so ashamed’

Suhasini Maniratnam, actor and wife of filmmaker Mani Ratnam, is the niece of actor Kamal Haasan. In fact, she moved to Chennai at the age of 12 for studies, and lived with her superstar uncle. While being the ‘Ulaganayagan’s niece had its benefits, it would also be the source of embarrassment for Suhasini on occasion. She narrated one such incident in an appearance on a television show some years ago, and said that her uncle would often drop her to college without wearing any pants.

In a 2018 episode of Zee Tamil’s show Weekend With Stars, Suhasini said that she kept her connection with Kamal a secret for quite a while. But her friends found out when a shoot was taking place outside their college, and Kamal called out to her. “I had kept it as a secret and nobody knew the fact that Kamal is my chitthapa (uncle). The song ‘Nee Kettal Naan Maatenendra Solven Kanna’, where Kamal is smoking, was being shot there. Everybody were going crazy, saying, ‘Kamal Haasan has come, Kamal Haasan has come, we have to go and see’, and I told them ‘I won’t come, I won’t come’, but they took me anyway. After going there, I was standing at the back, and then Kamal shouts, ‘Aye!’ and calls me by a name. Shall I tell that name? ‘Chu Chu, come here’, he said. I was so embarrassed.”

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But she’d be even more embarrassed when her uncle insisted on dropping her off to college in his new car. “Then, sometimes Kamal used to drop me at college. In those times, I don’t know whether you remember, there would be a special outfit for karate. There would be no pants. He used to practice karate at home, only wearing his underpants. He used to say that he has bought a new car and will drop me at college in it. I used to beg him saying, ‘Please wear pants and come. Or, at least wear shorts and come.’ And he would say ‘Chu Chu, I won’t get out of the car. I’m a big star, I can’t be seen outside a ladies college.'”

She said that Kamal would end up getting seen anyway, because he’d get out and open the door for her. “That’s it! The entire Queen Mary’s will be watching Kamal Haasan and his legs… Ayyo! I would be so ashamed! I used to yell, ‘Why are you doing that?’ But that’s who he is; he’s galatta.” Suhasini tied the knot with filmmaker Mani Ratnam in 1988, a year after he worked with Kamal on the film Nayakan. They’re set to unite for the first time since then in the upcoming Thug Life.