Author K. Hariharan gives an insightful look at the magnificent career of Tamil superstar Kamal Haasan
By Shevlin Sebastian
When the time came, the family rushed Rajalakshmi to a local hospital. This was in the town of Paramakudi (506 kms from Chennai). The doctor looked at her and said that a normal delivery would not be possible. Even so, Rajalakshmi went into labour.
After several hours, she gave birth to a chubby baby.
The doctor told Rajalakshmi’s eight-year-old daughter Nalini to keep an eye on the baby. Then he rushed Rajalakshmi for an emergency post-delivery surgical procedure.
It was in such dramatic circumstances that Kamal Haasan, the future film superstar, was born. The year was 1954.
While he was a child, a helper tasked with looking after him would take him to an old thatched cinema talkie. Kamal watched many of MG Ramachandran and Sivaji Ganesan’s movies. When he returned home, he would quote all the dialogues and mimic the acting. Thus, his love for acting was born.
Serendipity played a role for Kamal to get his first acting role. His mother took the six-year-old Kamal to consult with Dr Sarah Ramachandran. She immediately saw something in him. The doctor told Rajalakshmi that Kamal should do a screen test with another patient of hers. He was the renowned producer AV Meiyappan.
When Meiyappan saw Kamal, he was impressed. He immediately cast Kamal as the main child artiste in his film, ‘Kalathur Kannamma’.
Kamal said, “I truly consider myself fortunate that a stalwart like AV Meiyappan turned the spotlight on me.”
The film became an enormous success. Kamal won the National Award For Best Child Actor. This was presented to him by President S Radhakrishnan.
K. Hariharan recounts all this in vivid detail in his book, ‘Kamal Haasan — A Cinematic Journey’. The Chennai-based Hariharan is a national film award winner who has made nine feature films and over 350 short and documentary films. He is also a film academician.
Hariharan traces Kamal’s film career from the beginning. He talks about his fruitful partnership with director K. Balachander. They did 26 films together. And it all began with ‘Arangetram’ (1973), in which the 17-year-old Kamal played a villain.
In ‘Moondru Mudichu’ (‘Three Knots of a Wedding’-1976) Balachander used sound effects to replace the spoken word. So when Kamal and Sridevi met for the first time in a clock shop, they were interrupted by the incessant chiming of the clocks. The next time, they communicated by hitting clothes on a wet stone.
Kamal said, “At another instance, I played a melody on the mouth organ for her. Rajini (Rajnikanth) watched this with the sound of a hand pump in the background. What a way to define characters!”
Much later, Balachander said, “In our first few films, I can take the credit for propelling Kamal to become a genuine artist. But for the rest, I cruised on his success.”
Right from the beginning of his career, Kamal received mass appreciation. So much so that he acted in 150 films between 1972 and 1987.
By the time he acted in Bharathiraja’s debut film, ‘16 Vayathinile’ (1977), Kamal was the most prominent actor. So, he received Rs 27,000, while Rajnikanth got Rs 3000. The shooting took place in a remote village. The actors stayed in a small government guest house.
While Kamal slept in the bedroom, Rajnikanth and Bharathiraja spent the night on the verandah. Such are the struggles from which film icons like Rajnikanth rose.
For each film that Hariharan describes, he gives the socio-political, religious, and cultural background of that time. He also analyses the themes, plots, the camera angles and reasons behind why a scene was shot in a particular way. Many of Hariharan’s observations were insightful.
Here’s one: Hariharan said that early Tamil cinema was engaged in a battle to counter the hegemony of Hindi cinema and its so-called nationalistic politics. ‘Until 1975, it was intrinsically bound with the vernacular Dravidian movement to unsettle the pseudo-nationalist vision of Nehruvian dynastic politics,’ he wrote.
Entry into Bollywood
Kamal’s first foray into Bollywood was with ‘Ek Duuje Ke Liye’ (EDKL, 1981). The legendary LV Prasad produced it. Despite an initially lacklustre response by Mumbai film distributors, EDDL became an all-India hit.
Little did Kamal know then that the Laxmikant-Pyarelal song, ‘Tere mere beech mein, kaisa ye bandhan anjana’, would become the romantic anthem for youngsters all over India for the next few years.
Kamal also did not know that his success would open the doors in Bollywood for singers like KJ Yesudas, KS Chithra, and the legendary music composer AR Rahman. In reverse, Lata, Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle and Udit Narayan sang Tamil and Telugu songs.
When EKDL reached 50 weeks, Kamal flew to Mumbai for a celebratory function at Novelty Theatre.
At the theatre, LV Prasad told Kamal, “The floor is spanking and clean, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is clean, but what is so special about that?” said Kamal.
Prasad told Kamal that when he was 26 years old, the same age as Kamal in EDKL, he used to be an usher in the same theatre.
“Between screenings, I had to mop this floor clean every day. I am happy such traditions are still being followed by the workers here,” said Prasad.
It was a lesson in humility that Kamal never forgot.
‘Lost and Found’
One film which Hariharan focused on was the superhit, ‘Michael Madana Kamal Rajan’ (MMKR-1990). It was a comedy film made by the director Singeetam Srinivasa Rao. The film tells the story of a woman having quadruplets. They get kidnapped at birth and grow up in different places. Later, after many twists and turns, they reunite with their mother.
Hariharan writes that this theme of ‘lost and found’ children in MMKR is a continuation of films made on this theme in the 1950s and 60s in many languages, including Hindi. He mentions Raj Kapoor’s ‘Awaara’ (1951) and ‘Amar Akbar Antony’ (1977).
‘On introspection, one realises they are all resonating with a part of Indian history which most filmmakers and other artists were unwilling to directly talk about: the great Indian Partition of 1947,’ writes Hariharan. ‘Millions died and thousands of families fled across the borders, leaving their loved ones behind and or losing them somewhere in their journeys. More impactful than the loss of lives was the loss of one’s identity.’
Some of the other films that Hariharan wrote about include ‘Raja Paarvai’, ‘Nayakan’, ‘Pushpak’, ‘Sathya’, ‘Gunaa’, ‘Thevar Magan’, ‘Indian’ and ‘Anbe Sivam’.
The impact of stardom
Being a superstar for decades, many fans are crazy about Kamal.
In the book, Kamal said, “I was once going back in a car after finishing the day’s shooting. A big crowd had assembled to watch us at the location and suddenly one young boy ran alongside the car with a blade in his right hand, slitting his left wrist, and shouting out my name like a possessed person. I was shocked, even angry, at this insane act of fandom. I stopped the car and rebuked him never to do such an act again.”
For the ardent Kamal fan, this is a not-to-be-missed book. For those who don’t know much about Kamal’s Tamil film oeuvre, this is a beautiful way to understand it.
Since many of the films, especially the early ones, are available on YouTube, you can watch them. And then read the commentary of the film by Hariharan. This will deepen your understanding.
Kamal has defied time, and the massive changes in cinema and society, and remained relevant. His career has lasted a mind-boggling 63 years. And the journey continues.
‘Kalki 2898 AD’ was released on June 27, while ‘Indian 2’ hit the screens on July 12.
There is no doubt he is a genius.
And, like Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar, Kamal Haasan is also a national treasure.
(Published in The Sunday Magazine, The Hindustan Times, New Delhi and other editions)
Book Details
Title: Kamal Haasan – A Cinematic Journey
Author: K. Hariharan
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Pages: 259
Price: Rs 699
I live kamal hassan
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