I'd love to start an acting school: Kamal Haasan

In an interactive session at the FICCI MEBC South, in Chennai, Kamal Haasan and Trisha spoke about the film industry, working in Mani Ratnam’s Thug Life, and being up-to-date with the times...
Delving into whether he will be starting an acting school, Kamal stated, “I cannot interfere with the growth of a future actor because I will be teaching him the acting of my time. It will be useful for him only like how my predecessors’ acting has been useful for me. I can’t exactly copy that acting and bring it forth to an audience who doesn’t know who I’ve learnt it from. I would love to start an acting school, but I will be sitting with the students and learning under the pretext of teaching.”
Kamal states, “In Los Angeles, I went to a school and one Bengali gentleman recognised me. He introduced me to everybody and I was no longer a student.”
Elaborating further, he said, “I always tell assistant directors that they can’t learn cinema from me, for I’m busy saving my backside and I can’t be teaching them. Why would I employ a driver who doesn’t know anything about driving a vehicle but says, ‘With your assistance, I will become a fantastic driver’.”
‘KAMAL HAASAN IS A JACK OF ALL TRADES AND ALSO A MASTER OF THEM ALL’
Speaking about her experience working with Kamal, Trisha remarked, “Every time you work with Kamal sir, it’s pretty much like going to school. It’s unlearning everything you have learnt and learning something new. I have known him for about 15 years now; we have done three films together (Manmadhan Ambu, Thoongaavanam, and Thug Life). It’s amazing that there is no hierarchy when he is on set. He has a childlike enthusiasm and gives his 100 per cent commitment and conviction to everything. He has donned so many different roles besides being an actor and has excelled in all of them. He is one of those rare people who is a jack of all trades and the master of them all as well.”
She continued, “ There are some of his films that I run to when I’m having a bad day, like Thevar Magan, Nayakan and Michael Madana Kama Rajan. I watched Vikram thrice in the theatre and twice after that at home. That was swag personified.”
‘EARLIER, I USED TO DO THE ACTION, AND THE FEMALE LEAD THE NAIL-BITING; ALL THAT HAS NOW CHANGED’
Trisha shared that there has been massive progress towards how the industry treats its female artistes. “There is no shelf life (for actresses) anymore. Five years ago, I probably wouldn’t have had an answer if somebody had asked, ‘Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?’ Today, directors and superstars believe we need well-etched-out characters for women. There are so many female technicians now, and I have been blessed to work with a few of them,” she stated.
Kamal agreed and added, “Earlier, in nail-biting action films, I used to do the action, and the female lead used to do the nail-biting. But all of that has now changed.”
‘PEOPLE THOUGHT I WAS A GOOD CHILD ACTOR, BUT I WAS JUST A MIMIC’
Shruti Haasan had revealed recently about her dad being an emoji enthusiast. When asked about it, Kamal shared, “People thought I was a good child actor, but I was just a mimic. And now, I’m mimicking all these emojis; I don’t know about them. You teach me a game and I will play it. I’m enthusiastic about any new learning except mathematics.” Trisha expressed that she has been out of the loop, saying, “I don’t know what’s happening at all in regards to Gen Z. There’s so much to learn.”
‘CINEMA IS A LANGUAGE ON ITS OWN’
Kamal shared, “Cinema, in a very short while, has become a language on its own. So, filmmakers who understand that language make better films because they communicate it better. Some of them haven’t even gone to the film institute; they have imbibed it from our films. The way you place a camera is a statement and a sentence.”
‘EVEN MY CHARACTER IN THUG LIFE WILL BE BOTH A NALLAVAN AND A KETTAVAN’
When Kamal was asked his iconic dialogue from Nayakan – “Neenga nallavara kettavara”, he replied it’s all in the perspective. “All those times I have spent in front of the mirror while turning myself into another character, I have never found an answer. I could be both. It depends on the point of view and who places the camera. If it’s my camera, I’m a good man. Even my character in Thug Life will be both a nallavan and a kettavan. It’s like asking what’s more important in math – plus or minus.”
On Thug Life...
When asked about Thug Life, his upcoming film with Mani Ratnam, Kamal chose to remain tight-lipped and stated, “I have to meet Mani Ratnam again. What would I tell him if he asked, ‘I’m working hard on editing the film and you revealed the whole story there?’” “Mani sir is very silent about the work he does. So, I’m well trained by him,” shared Trisha, adding, “I don’t know whether I would have undertaken such a role for anybody else because it’s very different and anything but me. But Mani sir can bring out the complexities of a character and make someone live it. So, I’m privileged that he had the faith in me that I could carry this off.”
She also stated that Mani Ratnam and Kamal are “like BFFs who have grown up together”. “They read each other’s minds and know what the other is thinking; it’s almost like there’s a neural link between them,” she said.