The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Kamal to sing at musical

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 31, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Kamal to sing at musical

Special Correspondent

"It will not be the usual with Mani Ratnam, Sabu Cyril, Rajiv Menon and Vasanth at the helm"

CHENNAI: "People with external wounds win our sympathy and attention," said Kamal Haasan at a press conference organised at Real Image to announce his participation in the `Netru Indru Naalai' musical directed by Mani Ratnam on February 5 at Jeppiar Engineering College.

"But, people find those with internal injuries and intangible illnesses more difficult to relate to. We have to create more awareness on such illnesses," he said.

The `Netru Indru Naalai' musical will be telecast only on Vijay TV. "It will not be the usual star-night with Mani Ratnam at the helm, sets by Sabu Cyril, lights by Rajiv Menon and Vasanth co-ordinating a whole lot of artistes. I would like to be a part of this huge stream of support flowing in."

Was he going to sing or dance, asked a journalist. "Sing," said Kamal. "I'm not telling you which song because next you'll ask me to sing it for you now," he laughed. Asked if he believed that a musical of this scale will turn out to be a benchmark for stage shows, the actor said: "Yes, I hope. But, we are not incapable of producing musicals. Our films have grown out of the musical genre. It's song and dance with a little bit of screenplay sneaked in. We have been doing musicals all these years. For us, it is the usual thing."

"But, I believe music and cinema should go their own ways. They are both capable of creating stars in their own way. Let's hope that this creates a new platform," he said.

Was Tamil cinema slowly reaching up to international standards set by Hollywood, asked a scribe. "No," he said. "Maybe our cinematography and sound are world class today but in the screenplay department, we have progressed only just a little since the silent era. It is unbelievable that the land that produced Kamba Ramayanam cannot produce scripts. We have lost the art."

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