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The power of Kamal!

Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

The master of method acting Kamal Haasan quips critics have found method in his madness.

When stars are getting hooked to the election limelight thick and fast, Kamal Haasan stays clear of the dance of democracy. He doesn’t claim to be apolitical. “Most of my films – be it ‘Hey Ram’ or ‘Dasavthaaram’ – are political…they have a viewpoint, a certain subversion. I have my own agenda, which I discreetly put in my film. However, in real life, I don’t want the ink to spread beyond the tip of my finger.” He asks those who compare him with his peers who are contesting elections or supporting political parties, “It is a matter of choice. None of them have learnt Bharatanatyam or Carnatic music. I have!” He appeals to people to vote, to vote out the inertia that has set in the political system. “Believe that you are the leader. Let the politician suffer, let him bite his nails in anxiety.”

Kamal was in Delhi recently to promote the Hindi version of his magnum opus “Dasavathaaram”, releasing this Friday. “The subject has an all India appeal and the film was shot keeping in mind an all India release.” The film has Asin, Mallika Sherawat and Jayaprada and the music is composed by Himesh Reshammiya. “My Bollywood colleagues called me for roles but all the male roles were already taken by me,” he quips. He says a little delay will not hamper the prospects. He has a small story to prove his point. “When I was growing up, I could not watch Hindi films because of anti-Hindi agitation. I watched all the Dilip Kumar films much later and they still made sense to me. Once Dilip sahib came to Chennai…it was the time when ‘Ek Duje Ke Liye’ had just become a huge success. He praised me and in return I congratulated him. He was surprised and asked what it is about as he had not had a new release. I told him I have just watched ‘Gunga Jamuna’!”

It is common knowledge that Kamal has played 10 roles in the film, which smartly uses chaos theory and mixes mythology with the present world situation, but his most preferred one is the eleventh one as the scriptwriter. “It is a complex subject simply told. I haven’t used chaos theory as a solution. No theory could be a solution. The theory of relativity resulted in the atom bomb. Even Darwinism is being challenged. I have used chaos theory to explain the disorganised world we live in. Something seemingly innocuous may have unexpected larger consequences in the future. It has been used in the past in films like ‘The Butterfly Effect’. Mine is a new interpretation.”

He is often charged with showing off his intelligence and Kamal is familiar with the allegation. “I believe in the intelligence of the audience. If they have accepted some bad films, it doesn’t mean that is the formula for success. It is very much like people have learnt to live with the bad roads but this doesn’t mean they don’t want good infrastructure. I am for intelligent cinema but something which doesn’t tax the audience’s intelligence. And time and again they surprise us with their choices like the success of ‘Dasavathaaram’. It turned out to be one of the biggest hits of my career.”

Kamal says playing 10 characters demanded special make-up and surviving on liquids for long hours. “The minimum time that creating a particular look used to take was three hours.” He reminds that “The Curious Case of Benajmin Button”, which has been appreciated for make-up and special effects, has come much after “Dasavathaaram”.

Kamal acknowledges that he has a latent fan base in Hindi heartland. After “Dekha Pyaar Tumhara” in 1985, he is mostly seen only in dubbed versions of his Tamil films, the last being “Mumbai Express”, which sank without a trace. “I was never averse to do Hindi films but those days it used to take really long to complete a film. Ramesh Sippy took two years to make Saagar. During this period I could have done three films in the South. I believe things are changing and I am open to ideas.”

For now he is remaking “A Wednesday” in Tamil and Telugu. “I liked the concept. Mohanlal is going to play Anupam Kher’s character and I will play Naseer’s. In the Telugu version, Venkatesh will play the police commissioner.” Interestingly, his daughter Shruti is composing music for the film. “I can only say she is talented. She has learnt Hindustani Classical music. The rest is for the audience to judge.”

Does the solution put forward in the film gel with his political agenda? “No, it is purely rhetorical but something which appeals to the mind.” It seems with recession beginning to pinch he is also thinking small. “Not really. In fact I believe three verticals are not going to be affected by recession. One of them is entertainment. The other two are medicine and education. Film industry was not affected even by the Great Depression of the 1930s.”

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