Tags:
Journalism of Courage
For Kamal Hassan Inc., the bottomline should read — normal is boring. As a child, even classes at school were too pedestrian. So he dropped out, formed his dance-drama troupe and toured Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat instead. The adventurism soon wore off and he returned to do bit roles in Tamil films. The applause followed — but whatever he did subsequently was done on his own terms.
Today Kamal, the thinking person’s actor, insists that he does not quite fit the bill as a film hero. “The round nose, the tiny frame, the flower-power look — no way," he smiles. But once he was an actor he decided he would use the opportunity to make some money for himself.
This meant, of course, that he had to improvise, because he did not know what method acting was. “I still do not know what method acting is,” he says with a shrug. He also dismisses the expectations of critics who insist that his best is yet to come. The realist in him surfaces when confronted with such observations:“Sorry, I want to make some money before I do my dream role.”
But working for money didn’t mean that he let the artist within him go to sleep. “I did not want to be typecast in images like those of my predecessors,” he says. This meant that he had to give free rein to his instincts as an actor.
Dwarf, clown, psychopath, patriot, lover, transvestite — he has done them all. But so much has been written about these cameo parts that he is a bit tired about talking of them. “Yah! the media always likes its bit of icon bashing. And when you are an icon no more, you are blown away. Whom am I acting for? For myself? The media? The audience? All this is too cliched,” he says.
However, in all that glamour, grease and hype, it was clear that his attempt to discover himself was going to be a long, complex process. And so it was, with critics sometimes attacking him for resorting to gimmicks in order to sell himself. But Kamal Hassan was quite clear about what he was and what he wanted. Even as he continued to consider himself a commodity, disclaiming the calls of being a genius, he kept experimenting with styles and techniques. He did it to such an extent, that even his mentor, K.Balachander, is said to have been amazed at the talent he had nurtured. The key, of course, was hard work — all those improvisations he continued to spin out endlessly were honed over years of struggle. Today he commands the same price as Rajnikanth.
It is this ability to work hard that integrates the varied aspects of his personality. This was the rebel who defied the archetypal disciplinarian father. The child star who improvised on his lines. The producer/director who dares to tell a historical truth.
The epic film that he is now producing and directing, Marudhanayagam, is based on the story of a controversial general, going by the same name. From being a stooge of the British, he becomes a rebel and inflicts huge losses on his erstwhile masters. In fact, Haider Ali is believed to have been inspired by Marundhanayagam, yet his historical role is still shrouded in mystery. By taking on this project, Kamal will also be tackling history. In fact, he stands today on the threshold of a new cinematic idiom. But that doesn’t faze him. He dares to challenge the audiences with questions that were never asked before. “That’s because I am part of the audience myself. I cannot be a different entity,” he says.
When confronted with the accusation that he has, in films like Chachi 420 just copied from popular Hollywood fare, he bristles. “Okay, I do a take-off. But look at the changed context I’m doing it in. Don’t just look at it as a copy. And if you are so insistent, let me make it clear. I had thought of Chachi 420 much before Mrs Doubtfire. Ask Mr Robin Williams to have a chat with me and the truth shall be out.” The truth is, Mrs Doubtfire itself is a cross between Tootsie and Kramer Vs Kramer.
Asks Kamal,“Indian and Oru Kaidhiyin Dairy are about the conflict between father and son. Again, this is not an original concept. Does it reduce the significance of the film? Does it look a copy?” He is making a fine point here — the stark difference between plagiarism and inspiration. The aspect often missed is that despite the self-confessed capitalist that he is, Kamal has never stopped short of asking himself questions. If the script was not up to the mark, he would constantly be suggesting alterations to improve it.
Though Kamal has played superlative roles in earlier films like Akali Rajyam (Telugu), Aval Appadithan, he didn’t get much credit for them unfortunately since his contributions were limited. He first dabbled with direction in 1970 when he was the assistant director of Anmai Velankanni. But even though he has not been behind the camera — officially at least — for films like Guna, Mahaanadi, Apoorva Sahodarargal (Appoo Raja), Indian (Hindustani, in Hindi), he has contributed considerably to their concept and structure.
Unlike Hitchcock, Spielberg or even Charlie Chaplin, Kamal Hassan has refused to be stereotyped. A keen admirer of directors like Truffaut and Coppola for the variety of subjects they handled, Kamal continues to dazzle audiences with his genie-like abilities. He seems to revel in giving his roles a twist of lemon — it could be by biting the ears of his leading ladies or kissing them on the midriff, or something else.
In a world where television audiences are being fed a daily dose of stark realism, it becomes even more important to keep the improvisations going. Says Kamal: “The truth is out there. I am a poet and I have the licence to turn the story on its head and present it the way I want to.”
Kamal Hassan takes realism a little further — up the precipice of the imagination and then over — in a free fall.
