Tamil film star Kamal Haasan has been a fixture on the screen for as long as we can remember.
In an acting career spanning over five decades, Kamal Haasan has performed a variety of roles in Tamil, Telugu and, occasionally, even Hindi films.
While Kamal Haasan is no Marlon Brando, the South Indian star is leagues ahead of most of his Tamil peers (most of whom wouldn’t recognize acting if it slapped them on their face).
Here’s what Kamal Haasan had to say about himself in an interview with India Today in 1982:
* Even if I was a priest I would have got married. As a bachelor you get restless. Sex is a rare commodity and you get love fever.
* I do not subscribe to any thought pattern.
* [I am a] bundle of contradictions.
* I want to be rich and idealists are not wealthy people. I am trying to mix the perfect cocktail between idealism and practicality.
* Marriage has tied me. It has put an end to my nocturnal activities and regularised my life.
* I will cut through Hindi films as if it is butter. What matters is not my southy looks but what the audience sees in the two hours of darkness in a movie theatre where we are the only lights.
* Call me an opportunist, a nonconformist, whatever you like. But if you ask me what I am, I can only tell you one thing- a happy man.
Source: India Today, April 30, 1982 Vol VII Number 8, P.116-119
Kamal Haasan’s First Film – Kalathur Kannamma (1960)
Kamal Haasan’s Latest Film – Manmadhan Ambu (2008)
Kamal Haasan on Kamal Haasan – 29 Years Back added by SearchIndia.com on
View all posts by SearchIndia.com →
interesting.. how did you get hold of this old magazine?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Good ol’ legwork.
So, what is he? Because, I cannot figure out what he is. Looks like his,private,public, and screen life is a total jargon.
He seems to show off to give a strange kind of Philosophy that no one can understand.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write above: So, what is he?
Hard question to answer but it looks like the freakshow Dasavatharam is a reflection of this bundle of contradictions.
Your post quotes Kamal – quarter of a century ago:
* I do not subscribe to any thought pattern.
* [I am a] bundle of contradictions.
Quite evident in Dasavatharam – isn’t it?
* ……What matters is not my southy looks ( replace it as 10 looks in Dasa) but what the audience sees in the two hours of darkness in a movie theatre where we are the only lights.
What a light it throws ! This must be the overconfidence ( for most of Kollywood) that any BS can be dished out to the Tamil movie audience.
Like the unsuccessful fox jumping for the grapes – and leaving saying “Che Che indha thratchai pulikkum ” (those were sour grapes) – most of the “Kamalji’s Diehard Fans” must have left your blog – after failed attempts to refute your Dasa review, we may NOT see much of those hilarious moments for this new post of yours.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write above: Quite evident in Dasavatharam – isn’t it?
We made a similar observation in our response to a previous commenter. Pl see the comment above yours.
nice clip from the
‘Making of the Dasavatharam’ video from youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HN79hiNyjQ&feature=related
good one, vq
what a monumental waste of effort!
watch Pesum Padam (available on Netflix) one really good silent movie, the credit should go to the director and the screen play, got Kamal and Amala as the main characters. you’ll like it.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
The only silent movie we’ve watched so far is Mel Brooks’ Silent Movie (one of the rare occasions where we sat in the front row in an Indian theater).
We’ll watch Pesum Padam one of these days.
Kamal is a self-obsessed narcissist cum [Deleted] with mediocre acting talent compared to Hollywood stars.
He shameless lifted movies and remade in Tamil after Hollywood gave a pat on his back for the stolen nayakan. I can say that kamal is the most overhyped actor while mani ratnam is the most overhyped director in Indian cinema.
What we need in ART is originality, not imitation.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Agreed but as they say, In the country of the blind the one-eyed man is King.
Compared to the Ajiths, Simbhus, Vombhus, Kombhus, Vishals of the Tamil film industry, Kamal stands out.
The best way to enjoy the movies of the orang utans you mentioned is by not watching one.
It’s more like payin to get whiplashed for hours.
Directors like vasant balan do not get proper attention while morons like bala parcel their own shit and call it a “classic”.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
We’ve seen Vasantbalan’s Veyyil.
http://www.searchindia.com/search/tamil-movies/veyyil-movie-review.html