'Nayagan' to 'Nammavar': Interesting facts about Kamal Haasan

Kamal Haasan clocks six decades in films:

Kamal Haasan made his acting debut at the age of four in the 1960 Tamil film ‘Kalathur Kannamma’. Haasan won over the audience as a child artist and was awarded the President’s Gold Medal for the film. Since then, he has acted alongside several stalwarts like MG Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesan and Gemini Ganesan. His first major role came in K Balachander’s ‘Arangetram’ in 1970. Over the years, Kamal went on to act in about 35 films with K Balachander. In fact, Haasan’s ‘Uthama Villain’ became the last film, in which Balachander acted with him.

Kamal Haasan is a pan-Indian actor in every sense. Not just in Tamil, but Kamal ruled the roost in other languages as well. Long before he became the heartthrob of Tamil cinema, Haasan earned his stardom in the Malayalam film industry and he went on to star in over 24 films. He was equally successful in the Hindi and Telugu industries as well. His ‘Maro Charitra’, ‘Sagara Sangamam’ and ‘Swati Mutyam’ in Telugu shot him to superstardom. He became one of the prominent names in Bollywood after the success of films like ‘Saagar’, ‘Sadma’ and ‘Ek Duje Ke Liye’. He has acted in Kannada and Bengali films as well.

Kamal Haasan is arguably one of the finest actors of Indian cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he has been honoured with three Best Actor National Awards. He’s known for his performances in films like ‘Moondram Pirai’, ‘Nayagan’ and ‘Indian’. Haasan also won a National Award for producing the film ‘Thevar Magan’, which was India’s official entry to Oscars in 1992. Known as the Daniel Day-Lewis of Indian cinema, Kamal has frequently been compared with stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Naseeruddin Shah and Mohanlal.

Kamal Haasan is the only actor to have the highest number of Academy Award submissions in Indian cinema. His first came after playing the leading role in the Hindi blockbuster ‘Saagar’, which was directed by Ramesh Sippy. Kamal earned international recognition after essaying the iconic Velu Naicker in Mani Ratnam’s 1987 film ‘Nayagan’. Between 1985 and 1987, three of Kamal Haasan’s films were submitted to the Oscars. Interestingly, his directorial venture ‘Hey Ram’ also became India’s official entry to the Oscars in 2000. However, none of the films were shortlisted for a nomination.

In 2016, the French government honoured Kamal Haasan by knighting him for his outstanding contribution to Indian cinema. He became the second Tamil actor after the legendary Sivaji Ganesan to receive this recognition. It must be noted that Ganesan was the first Indian actor to be made Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Kamal Haasan is the first Tamil actor to disown his fan clubs across Tamil Nadu. Haasan reportedly took the decision to convert his fan clubs into social welfare organisation after a group of fans carried a torch all the way from Pondicherry in the ‘80s to celebrate the success of one of his films. According to Haasan, his ‘Narpani Iyakkam’ has indulged in welfare activities for the last 37 years and has contributed over Rs 30 crore for the welfare schemes.

Kamal Haasan is perhaps one of the very few actors in India, who has an in-depth knowledge of each department in filmmaking. Calling himself a “reluctant actor”, Haasan entered the film industry to become a director. It was K Balachander, who spotted his talent and shaped his career. Haasan made his directorial debut with ‘Chachi 420’ a remake of Tamil film ‘Avvai Shanmugi’. He started his own production company Raaj Kamal Films International and his 100th film ‘Raaja Paarvai’ was his maiden production. Since then, Haasan has produced and directed several films that won both critical and commercial acclaim. Apart from acting, Kamal Haasan is a trained singer and dancer. He has sung many songs in his films.

In Tamil Nadu, the relationship between cinema and politics is slowly growing. The state has seen three chief ministers coming from the Tamil film industry. Kamal Haasan has always been bold and brazen when it comes to issues concerning freedom of speech and artistic liberties. After being wary of politics for far too long, he finally took the plunge in February, announcing the launch of his own political party ‘Makkal Needhi Maiam’. In an interview, Haasan stated that he will no longer act in films after entering real-time politics. He currently has three films in the pipeline - ‘Vishwaroopam 2’, ‘Indian 2’ and ‘Sabash Naidu’.