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Interview: Kamal Haasan (on the ’50th day of Vikram’ event organised by Galatta)
Posted on August 5, 2022
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Baradwaj Rangan 
karzzexped
August 5, 2022
Say what one may, I can listen to this man talk about cinema simply forgetting everything around me.
And I loved what you did there BR, as you usually do, just taking a backseat and gently nudging the conversation to flow organically.
The Nammavar scene featuring the legendary Nagesh is still one of my Top 5 acting moments in Tamil Cinema history 😉
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Sundar
August 5, 2022
Phenomenal Interview.. the Interview format to let Kamal react to selected scenes from his filmography worked wonderfully.
Would have loved another hour of this interview to hear Kamal’s thoughts on his high concept near miss films like Aalavantaan and Uttama Villain.. his comedy films.. his approach to writing screenplays, etc..
கமல் சொன்னமாதிரி பத்தலை பத்தலை..
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Macaulay Perapulla
August 5, 2022
We asked for a book called “Conversations with Kamal Haasan” You have given us such a sumptuous meal in this video:). Appadiye innum 3 hours pesunga. Oru book pannidalaam:) I sincerely hope you are secretly working on this and give us preorder link with 1000 pages that preserve the legacy of kamal for future generations.
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M
August 5, 2022
THANK YOU FOR THE THE SUBTITLES
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ivan
August 5, 2022
I second Macaulay. Please add Kamal’s memoir/autobiography in the pipeline.
Thank you so much for the great interview, BR. claps
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Srinivas R
August 5, 2022
Terrific interview. He is truly speaking like a wise, concerned artist. Enjoyed this thoroughly.
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KayKay
August 5, 2022
“Say what one may, I can listen to this man talk about cinema simply forgetting everything around me.”
Yup absolutely sums up my feelings too. I can listen to this Titan expound on cinema all day!
Well done, B! And that praise from the Big Man at the end? Well deserved!
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karthik299
August 5, 2022
Like most mentioned, could listen to this for a couple of more hours. Ask Kamal regarding specific scenes was a great feature, and he also really seemed to be enjoying explaining them. Kudos on a great job, BR!
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MANK
August 5, 2022
What a fantastic conversation. 1hr. 12 mins just went just like that. i could have listened to this for another couple of hrs. Thanks a lot for this boss. I wish you had more time to discuss more of his films; especially his more ambitious flops like Anbe Sivam, Aalavandhan and Mumbai Xpress – an absolute favorite of mine. And maybe discuss a little more of the original Vikram (1986), what went wrong with it etc. Anyway, your film selections were fantastic, except for Nayagan, not many people discuss those scenes, especially Saagar- i was always moved by that scene and the scene preceding that when he discovers Dimple loves Rishi. BTW Kamal won 2 filmfare awards for Saagar. i believe he was both best actor and best supporting actor for that film.
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TamilThanos
August 5, 2022
BR, am glad you are doing these big-scale events instead of the cringe-worthy anchors who sing praises half of the time instead of asking sensible questions.
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kaizokukeshav
August 6, 2022
Thank you so so much for the subtitles
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TamilThanos
August 6, 2022
Also, where were you going with the arrival of Balu Mahendra, Bharatiraja, and Mahendran question? From the video, it looked like that question got derailed into a different conversation.
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Prasad
August 6, 2022
One of the best interviews I have seen . The format was very effective showing some great scenes and getting his thoughts on that .
His appreciation of films and actors is unparalleled. Not sure if anybody else can speak with such depth of knowledge in Indian cinema .
Especially some memorable moments were
His appreciation for SN lakshmi . Outstanding
Mentioning Girish Karnad as South Indian Ray and how he helped him in Hey ram ….
Venu’s photography in Guna scene …..
Chaplin’s multiheaded monster comment…
Also the Third Man reference to Vikram….. phenomenal.
Will be interesting to see his next venture !!
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Prat
August 6, 2022
He’s very grandstanding I feel. Would’ve been a better interview with no audience!
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Vignaprasad
August 6, 2022
Great Interview BR, so many mass moments; especially when he says (aggressively), “They (audience) must feel guilty for setting mediocrity as standard, for which my excellence should be in their face.”
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brangan
August 6, 2022
Haha, MANK. That SAAGAR scene was in my original list, but the others were different. I think the organisers just fainted because they did not want to alienate the audience with esoteric titles.
But I think this list was the right way to go for this event, which is a big one and not an intimate conversation. You have to get the crowd involved, and sitting across him, I learnt quite a bit from him about this aspect (how to do “mass” things even as you are talking”class” stuff). He’s such a pro.
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Yossarian
August 6, 2022
This was so good! Amazing work BR! So many interesting nuggets. The way he kept the crowd engaged was fascinating. I had to go back and immediately re-read Master of Arts, where you drove us crazy waiting every week for the next one in the series to show up 🙂 (https://baradwajrangan.wordpress.com/2014/10/17/master-of-arts/). This is a worthy sequel to that gem and it was nice to see him expound more on the acting part.
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Madan
August 6, 2022
“If you study history, you can predict 90% of the time what can happen” – Wow, I would love to hear his take on the present moment. He’s got to have some super dark take on it, based on what we know of his views.
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Voldemort
August 6, 2022
Incredible incredible interview.
Would love to know what were your original scene selections were. [The full scenes weren’t played because of copyright issues ?]
Yes questions about other great films Hey Ram, Anbe Sivam, Aalavandhan, and also the films with the great Crazy Mohan would have been absolutely delightful as well.
Maybe also Vettaiyadu. I am suddenly thinking of Manjal Veyil where he’s walking across Times Square (I think?) and thinks of Jyothika and shakes his head. Such a small but totally lovely moment.
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MANK
August 6, 2022
I learnt quite a bit from him about this aspect (how to do “mass” things even as you are talking”class” stuff). He’s such a pro.
I fully understand. he has been selling\trying to sell class stuff to the masses for ages. Remember when Kurudhipunal came out , the posters and publicity were all about Kamal and Gauthami’s kissing scene which lasts hardly a few minutes of the film. Kamal was unapologetic about this line of advertising as he felt it was necessary to bring a class film to a mass audience. The posters of Hey ram and Virumandi also pitched them as sort of mass films, with images of Kamal firing a gun in a front of a dust storm or Kamal indulging in bullfights. In the interview itself, i saw him almost hijack the conversation into his politics- he was repeatedly apologizing for it, but i don’t think he was apologetic about it. His reasoning might very well be what was his idol Marlon Brando’s reasoning was for sending a native American woman to reject his Godfather Oscar. As he was repeatedly chanting – politics is everywhere, one cannot dissociate politics from anything. Though one can argue with him about it, and I personally do not like people bringing politics into such events, he looks driven by his convictions.
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vijay
August 6, 2022
“He’s very grandstanding I feel. ”
a bit of hangover from political campaigns I guess. Was’nt always like this though..
One of the better ones from the late 90s..
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KS
August 6, 2022
While its always a delight listening to Kamal talk, for me its mostly for the cheerful anecdotes, metaphors, and the trivia (not just about cinema but general fun facts and titbits) that he peppers any conversations with.
But when it comes down to the actual content beyond the many delightful accoutrements, it always seems to be a bundle of cliches and inane pop-psych/politics and motivational bs the kind you see on cringey Indian linkedin. And a very predictable choice of those too, given we all pretty much know his worldview.
Take one of the early questions put to him “Everyone comes up with theories on why a movie succeeds or fails, so what do you think is responsible for Vikram’s success?” And his profound answer based on his keen knowledge and experience? “The audience”, it seems. That sets the tone for most of his replies. His fact-filled tangents and non-sequiturs are interesting as always, but the non-frivolous main parts are tiresome, mostly of the “idhu thannadakkam illai, but…” type.
But at least this is one of the better actor interviews, mainly because Kamal is not just an actor but a writer and director too. The more I see interviews of actors, the more agreeable Hitchcock’s quote (which Kamal mentions in this interview) paraphrased as “once we have the story, we’re shepherds looking for sheep” seems to make sense. I have not seen even one interesting interview of an actor where they said anything non-trivial, no matter how much they throw around buzzwords about “method”, “process”, “getting into the character” whatever. And lets not even get started on their opinions on matters outside their domain.
Actors are like puppets or typists, or at best, calligraphers. The real content comes from the writers and directors. So deep dive interviews work best with directors, who can actually discuss their inspirations, imagination, choices, etc. With actors, I might as well watch Koffee with Karan where they look pretty and say stupid shit we can laugh at, condescend towards, and feel better about ourselves. That level of frivolity is only commensurate with their profession, and anything beyond that enters cliche territory.
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sanjana
August 6, 2022
Here he has to play to the gallery. The ambience is like that. And he did well like a true showman.
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KS
August 6, 2022
@sanjana: Not just here. If not the literal gallery in front of them, there’s a figurative gallery of youtube/TV viewers to be played for. Thats all there is to it. Actors are basically dhaddis who just hustle their way and play on their popularity. They might be good at their jobs, shrewd in playing politics and exploiting connections, strategize their choices cleverly, but of course they cannot talk about those aspects of the game in public. Their interviews have no raison d’être other than publicity for their new movies. After all, everyone wants to see their face, so they can use that to plug movies. Beyond that, they never have anything original to say.
And it looks like everybody implicitly assumes actors are dhaddis and expect very low standards of sense from them. Which is why when they give an answer that sounds baseline sensible at best, they get hailed as being intelligent. The Alia Bhatt interview is an example of that. As I mentioned, Kamal is more than an actor, so he could potentially make for deeper interviews on creative choices, but this interview didn’t do it.
Which is why I admire KJo because he seems to totally get this, and keeps his interviews at a mundane gossipy level, befitting the general level of the guests. And people constantly lap them up because thats all anyone expects from or wants to see of the actors. It would be insufferable seeing them parrot inanities to sound intellectual.
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ivan
August 6, 2022
If it’s not too much to ask, could you someday make a documentary about Kamal (real deep stuffs) where you be the narrator and interviewer. I know you would, thanks in advance 🙂
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Madan
August 6, 2022
I loved the sheer plethora of memories he shared, the intersections with the journeys of so many other legends, the differences in directing styles. Though I would have liked to have an hour devoted to just each of those topics.
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Ace
August 6, 2022
Pathala..pathala…
What a great interview. I’ve always loved Kamal interviews for his tangents and tid bits about various movies, scenes, technical aspects, situations, directors, technicians and other actors. I’ve never seen anyone else gush like this about other actors and technicians. It’s so genuine as he can go into quite a bit of detail about his admiration. And you learn so much. Thanks BR. I think some of the philosophical aspects and ramblings come with such deep convictions and age too…as everyone else said, I could easily watch another couple hours.
And thanks for the subtitles.
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Karthik
August 6, 2022
What a fantastic session! It’s remarkable that from the introductory portion and through the subsequent deep dive into scenes, there’s a connecting thread in his approach to acting which was really born out of a natural talent to mimic. For almost every scene, he had answer that indicated the person he had channeled in that moment. It really breaks down what we might call as “getting into the skin of a character” into a specific application of a skill. Excellent choice of scenes, too.
Kudos, BR! To shape such an interview with a colossus in front of a huge live audience is no mean feat!
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shaviswa
August 6, 2022
Right from his answer to the first question, it was clear that this ia going to be a cliche ridden interview with crumbs thrown at the audience to get them excited and clap 🤦
Sorry but could not enjoy this interview at all.
Will Kamal ever do an interview where he comes up with honest, straight from the heart answers?
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Moi
August 6, 2022
“how much they throw around buzzwords about “method”, “process”, “getting into the character” whatever”..
one more word to add to this list..”craft”.
I can almost finish their sentences once they start..they all sound the same. Too many words that doesn’t mean much. They all seem so stubborn not to reveal their true self by hiding behind too many words.
“So deep dive interviews work best with directors, who can actually discuss their inspirations, imagination, choices, etc”.
Agree. I haven’t listened to this interview yet. I was hoping since he is a writer/ director too, he would have more profound things to say.
I like how the old time actors who didn’t have easy access to Hollywood actors’ interviews and therefore wasn’t clued in to the latest buzz words, kept their explanations simple about their “craft”.
I remember Amithab Bachan saying that in order to perform for an emotional scene, he thought of a time in his childhood when he got stomach ache and his mum wasn’t at home and he spent the night crying for his mom…. is the emotional memory he used . Simple, straightforward and unpretentious. Actors are “feelers”. Feel and show is what they do.I don’t know if there is much to intellectualize there.
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Rajesh Balasubramanian
August 6, 2022
great interview. as said, it is always a pleasure to listen to someone like Kamal who speaks so much nuances of the process, execution straight from the brain without having to think about it much. shows how much the person must have been involved in that work.
@BR – What are some of (say 5-6) other films that you wished to ask Kamal in this interview.
P.S I wish you had asked Kamal about Salangai Oli / Saagara Sangamam , Vishwaroopaom, Utham villian (though you didn’t link the direction), unnal mudiyum thambi, kuruthipunal, hey ram, vettaiyadu vilaiyadu, papanasam, vikram
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sanjana
August 7, 2022
There are dumb actors and there are very few intelligent actors. An intelligent actor knows how to interact with cricis like BR and they know what questions to expect. Each such actor has his or her own take though he or she may use similar words. Some of the actors are well versed in the language of cinema at all levels. It is a pleasure to listen to them.
Karan Johar never expects serious discussions from actors as his shows pander to certain audience who just want to have some fun. Even serious actors understand his format and go with it. It is somewhat better than some other similar shows.
Coming back, I agree with @Karthik when he says
“Kudos, BR! To shape such an interview with a colossus in front of a huge live audience is no mean feat!”
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V
August 7, 2022
Thanks for being the Muni Vaahanar for Kamal in this interview. Still processing it in my mind & shall need some more days to assimilate it fully.
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Satya
August 7, 2022
V: Muni Vahana Seva? That is a very interesting comment in the context of Kamal’s ‘Andavar’ image, and I love the metaphor.
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ivan
August 7, 2022
shaviswa: “Will Kamal ever do an interview where he comes up with honest, straight from the heart answers?”
Maybe this setting wasn’t conducive for such answers. Due to popular demand, BR could do a follow up interview without any audience in a more relaxed environment. But this time, all the questions should be BR’s and maybe some suggestions from this blog. That way we will be able to see if both of them are any different. I see BR was too polite here and Kamal was very conscious about the crowd? [fill in the blanks].
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Macaulay Perapulla
August 7, 2022
Am I the only one seeing Kamal getting softer with age? In Jeyamohan’s dialogue, he talked about Ramayana and here also, he briefly talks about Ramayana. Aandavar is busy reading Ramayana perhaps. In Jeyamohan’s interview, he talks of his atheism days with a sense of detachment. Reminds me of communist EMS Naamboothiipad and how he spoke in the latter part of his years.
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ivan
August 7, 2022
Macaulay Perapulla: “Am I the only one seeing Kamal getting softer with age?”
I see it too. Usually people lose confidence/cockiness as they become older.
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V
August 7, 2022
@Satya: In this interview, Kamal calls himself the Muni Vaahanar for Sivaji, Nagesh in Devar Magan & Nammavar. I have to read up on its religious significance & tatpariyam. Just reused it in the same setting & context 🙏
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shaviswa
August 7, 2022
The Muni Vahanaa story
https://www.indiadivine.org/muni-vahana-seva/
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therag
August 7, 2022
@KS, yes even I always watch these for the anecdotes and inspirations because the rest is mostly passe. But again, I assume we’ve seen/read N-interviews of Kamal so we know his shtick. This event (like the Nayakan one) is also in part to sell his work to a new audience. Remember when there was discussion in this blog about how Kamal was known as the Bigg Boss guy and the blog-vaasis could not believe it? Vikram is Kamal’s first outright blockbuster since Dasavathaaram probably.
That said, I actually thought this interview was pretty low on the “Kamalisms”. He actually slipped a little and dissed Sakalaka Vallavan, saying he could have done 50 movies like that but chose not to. This was part of that discussion about mediocrity. Reading between the lines, I am pretty sure Kamal slots Vikram (2022) in that category as well, hence the non-answer to BR’s question about Vikram’ success.
He also compared the Malayalam audience to the Tamil audience favorably, which I feel Kamal would not have done a few years back. It was always about “Tamizhanin Arivu” and some such nonsense.
One interesting tidbit Kamal just dropped was that he wanted Mani to direct Moo but Mani had already committed to Ayutha Ezhuthu and this pissed off Kamal enough to make Virumaandi? I do wonder how conversations like that play since they are family. I’m sure Mani made a business decision to not touch any political subject with a 10-foot pole after the Iruvar debacle, whereas it was around that time that Kamal became increasingly political (Marudhanayam, Hey Ram).
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MANK
August 7, 2022
One interesting tidbit Kamal just dropped was that he wanted Mani to direct Moo but Mani had already committed to Ayutha Ezhuthu and this pissed off Kamal enough to make Virumaandi? I do wonder how conversations like that play since they are family.
Actually, Kamal did not even attend the Mani-suhasini wedding. Their family dynamic is pretty complex and there have been problems between Kamal and his brothers’ families from time to time (as it happens in every family). I also heard a story (i don’t know how true it is) that after Nayagan Mani had planned to produce and direct a film with Kamal in the lead, but that fell apart because Mani wouldn’t pay Kamal’s salary, or Kamal wouldn’t reduce his fee for Mani. so much for family. And i don’t think Kamal is a kind of guy who would let something like family deter him from criticizing someone. Maybe professional courtesy might deter him more. Also, he mentioned the Moo issue almost in passing, i didn’t feel he was dissing Mani.
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Madan
August 7, 2022
“Reading between the lines, I am pretty sure Kamal slots Vikram (2022) in that category as well, hence the non-answer to BR’s question about Vikram’ success.
He also compared the Malayalam audience to the Tamil audience favorably, which I feel Kamal would not have done a few years back. It was always about “Tamizhanin Arivu” and some such nonsense.” – Agreed on both counts. It was a tightrope walk of sorts, gently bashing the audience in effect.
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Prasad
August 7, 2022
Another interesting aspect I observed. When He was talking about Actors from other states, MGR, Nambiar and Nagesh he didn’t include Rajini. It’s good that he didn’t so that the narrative and focus was on himself.
Box Office has really not been favorable to him Kamal and it was explained in the another Mani interview that Manithan collected more than Nayagan. Especially late 80’s and 90’s and even 2000’s it’s been always Rajni ruling the box office and many great Kamal movies had to suffer financially. That’s why almost everybody who has appreciated his films are so happy about Vikram’s success. He deserves this success for all the lost causes(great films which flopped earlier).
Kamal -Rajni rivarly in the 80’s and 90’s is an interesting aspect. When it comes to box office, Rajni kind of ruled it mostly and when it comes to Class and Art it was Kamal all the way.
But offlate after all the Rajni’s Dilly dallying in politics and his closeness with the current establishment, would be interesting to understand how his popularity got impacted? After Vikram’s success will there be any change in equations in the box office rivalry of Kamal and Rajni? Need to be watched.
Any thoughts welcome!
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ivan
August 7, 2022
Can anyone help me understand this. He says that talented co-actors like SNL enhanced his acting skills. Why in between he consistently collaborated with mediocres* like Trisha Krishnan, Ramesh Arvind, etc?
weren’t outstanding in his movies/yawn inducing, not sure if they were great in other movies
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therag
August 7, 2022
@MANK, he’s not dissing Mani. He’s just disappointed that Mani was not in his “camp”. If you remember in the Vishwaroopam 2 interview with BR, he wanted Mani to do Vikram in 1986. I don’t honestly don’t think it’s a simple money issue either. Kamal seems to have regularly approached Mani with his endless repository of ideas but mani seems to have never agreed. Perhaps because Mani knows that making another film like Nayakan is incredibly unlikely. Also, politics meant Mani and Kamal were not on the same page at all.
@Prasad, Kamal is very unique in that his biggest box office successes are on-par and sometimes exceed Rajni films. He’s set the record multiple times in his career. OTOH his best and most interesting films are average grossers at best and massive bombs at worst. Kamal would make a very poor trader as he’s made “all eggs in one basket” type moves multiple times in his career. But once he’s in the hole, he is always able to pull himself out.
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madhusudhan194
August 7, 2022
I remember in one interview Kamal mentioned how Mani was always particular about making films the way he wanted to. And if Kamal’s presence would be an impediment, Mani would be right in removing him. Or something to that effect.
I can see why Mani avoided working with Kamal. Politics in Mani’s films are generally super subtle while it’s just the opposite in Kamal’s films. GVM opted out of directing Dasavatharam because he couldn’t see eye to eye with Kamal on many aspects. Selva opted out of Viswaroopam. I guess you need to be a certain kind of a yes-man to direct a film with Kamal having creative control.
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Prasad
August 7, 2022
“@Prasad, Kamal is very unique in that his biggest box office successes are on-par and sometimes exceed Rajni films.”
Not sure if I can agree with his entirely. I know he has given block busters (Apporva Sagodharargal , Thevar Magan .etc…but still some of his critically acclaimed movies suffered losses compared to Mass flicks from Rajni. Example below.
Manithan Vs Nayagan
Thalapathi vs Guna
Chandramukhi vs Mumbai Express
Baasha vs Sathileelavathi-Even though Sathileelavathi was a success but Baasha was a humongous success.
Also Anbae Sivam, Hey ram , Mahanadhi….weren’t great box at box office even though all are timeless classics. That’s the point I was trying to make.
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therag
August 7, 2022
@Prasad, well that’s exactly what I said. “OTOH his best and most interesting films are average grossers at best and massive bombs at worst”.
Some of his blockbusters: Ek Duje ke Liye, Sakalakala Vallavan, Apoorva Sagodharargal, Thevar Magan, Indian, Dasavathaaram, Viswaroopam, Vikram.
Kamal was a star in the 70s itself and had delivered major hits in multiple languages. He’s always had the ability to deliver gargantuan hits and he has the track record to prove it IMHO. That he is really not interested in getting the BO crown is another matter.
Even now, I’m sure he’s planned his way to dig another hole with the spoils of Vikram. That is just who he is. Thank God for that.
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ivan
August 8, 2022
madhusudhan19: let’s forget not seeing eye to eye. Do you even see Dasa and Vish as GVM and Selva’s kind of movies to begin with? Selva makes raw movies, Vishwa on the other hand is so polished. GVM and Selva (Myskin too) are equally rebellious when it comes creativity and I don’t see them working as his AD.
In Nayakan, Kamal didn’t just act, he was heavily involved in other aspects of the movie too. What contributed to the success of Nayakan thus becomes debatable – Kamal’s acting or Mani’s Direction? Maybe ego clashes there and Mani wants to stand out, I didn’t see any other actors giving extraordinary performances in his movies since Nayakan.
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Macaulay Perapulla
August 8, 2022
From a recent article by Jeyamohan on what he has observed in Kamal
நான் கமலிடம் என்றுமே விரும்புவது அவருடைய இளமையை. எனக்கு அறுபதாகிறது. நாற்பது வயதான பலரை பார்க்கையில், என்ன இத்தனை முதியவர்களாக இருக்கிறார்கள் என்று எனக்கு தோன்றும். நான் என் முப்பது வயதில் எத்தனை கனவுகளும், செயலூக்கமும் கொண்டிருந்தேனோ அதே போலவே இன்றும் திகழ்பவன். எனக்குச் சோர்வும் சலிப்பும் இல்லை. மகிழ்ச்சியும் கொந்தளிப்புமான வாழ்க்கை என்னுடையது. வாசிப்பு, எழுத்து, நட்புக்கூடல், பயணம் என் அன்றாடம். ஆனால் என் பார்வையில் என்னைவிட இளையவராகவே கமல் தோற்றமளிக்கிறார்.
எனக்கு எப்போதுமே தோன்றுவது அவருடைய மாறா வயது இருபது என்று. எதிலும் உற்சாகம். ஒன்றைச் சொல்லும்போதே அவருக்கு பத்து நினைவுக்கு வந்துவிடும். ஒரு திட்டத்தைச் சொல்லும்போதே மேலும் பல திட்டங்கள் பொங்கி எழும். நிலைகொள்ளாமல் இருப்பார். அந்த ஊக்கத்தாலேயே அவரால் ஒன்றை முழுமையாகச் சொல்ல முடியாது. ஒரு வலுவான தர்க்க வியூகத்தை உருவாக்க முடியாது. ஒரே விஷயத்தில் தொடர்ந்து பேசிக்கொண்டிருக்கவும் இயலாது. அந்த பேச்சு, சிரிப்பு ஆகியவற்றிலிருக்கும் தன்னியல்பான இளமையின் ரசிகர்களே அவருடைய நண்பர்கள்.
இருபது வயதின் ஊக்கக் கொப்பளிப்பு இன்றி அவரை நான் கண்டதில்லை. அவரை நான் நேரில் காண விரும்புவதே அதன்பொருட்டுத்தான். திரையுலகில்கூட பலர் அவரை பார்ப்பதே அந்த தணியாத ஊக்கத்தில் சிறிது பெற்றுக்கொள்வதற்காகத்தான். அவ்வாறு வாழ அவரால் இயன்றிருக்கிறது. அல்லது அந்த இயல்பு அவருள் இருக்கிறது. இன்னொருவர் என்றால் விக்ரம் படத்தின் மாபெரும் வெற்றிக்குப் பின் திரைத்திட்டங்களில் திளைப்பார்கள். கோடிகளில் கணக்குபோட்டுக்கொண்டிருப்பார்கள். அந்த வெற்றியில் நீந்திக்கொண்டிருப்பார்கள். அவர் கிளம்பி அமெரிக்கா சென்று முழுக்கவே டிஜிட்டல் திரைப்பின்னணியில், முழுக்கமுழுக்க உள்ளரங்கில் திரைப்படம் தயாரிக்கும் தொழில்நுட்பத்தைக் கற்க ஒரு பல்கலைக்கழக வகுப்பில் சென்று அமர்ந்திருக்கிறார்.
தன்னைச் சுற்றி அதைப் பயில வந்து அமர்ந்திருப்பவர்கள் முப்பது வயதுக்குள் இருக்கும் இளைஞர்கள் என்றார். அவர் அவர்களைவிடவும் பத்து வயது இளையவர்தானே என்று நான் எண்ணிக்கொண்டேன். அடுத்து என்ன பயிலலாம், எந்த புதிய இடங்களுக்குள் நுழையலாம் என்னும் சிறுவனுக்குரிய வேட்கை அவருடையது.
அந்த உரையாடலிலும் தெரிபவர் அந்த கமல். அவர் பேசுவன எல்லாமே அப்போது அக்கணத்தில் அவருக்கு தோன்றுபவை. அவர் இயல்பு என்னவென்றால் அப்படிப் பேசும்போதே ஓர் ஐம்பதுகோடி ரூபாய் திட்டம் உள்ளத்தில் தோன்றிம, அங்கிருந்தே அப்படியே எழுந்து, அதைச் செய்ய ஆரம்பிப்பது. உலகியல் பார்வையில் அவரை திட்டமிடத்தெரியாதவராக, லௌகீக விவேகம் கொஞ்சம் குறைவானவராக அது காட்டலாம். ஆனால் உண்மையில் பெரிய அரசியல்தலைவர்கள் கூட அப்படித்தான் இருந்திருக்கிறார்கள். நேரு அப்படிப்பட்டவர் என பதிவுசெய்திருக்கிறார்கள். கனவு காண்பவர். அதை செயலாக்கும் நடைமுறைவாதிகள்தான் நூறு, ஆயிரம்பேர் சுற்றிலும் நிறைந்திருக்கிறார்களே.
This section below onwards really intrigued me
பலசமயம் கமல் வாழ்ந்த வாழ்க்கைதான் மிகச்சிறந்த வாழ்க்கையோ என்று நினைப்பேன். இளமையிலேயே நின்றுவிடுவது. இளமைக்குரிய ஊதாரித்தனம், கட்டுப்பாடின்மை, புதுப்புதுத் திட்டங்கள். தீராப்பெருங்கனவுகள், சாகசங்கள், காதல்கள்… அது ‘பாதுகாப்பான’ பயணம் அல்ல. அவரே ஏகப்பட்ட இடர்களில் சிக்கிக்கொண்டு அவதிப்பட்டவர்தான். சாகசமும் ஆபத்தும் ஒன்றாகப்பிணைந்தவை.
ஆனால் என்ன குறைந்துவிட்டது? அவர் தன் மகள்களுக்கு மிகமிக விருப்பமான இலட்சியத் தந்தை. அவர்களின் கதாநாயகன். கூடவே அவர் தான் விரும்பிய வாழ்க்கையை வாழ்ந்தார். சம்பாதித்தார், விரும்பிய செயல்களில் அள்ளி இறைத்தார். ஒவ்வொரு கணமும் தான் விரும்பியபடி வாழ்வில் திளைத்தார். அதுதான் இருபத்தொன்றாம் நூற்றாண்டு வாழ்க்கையோ என்னவோ. இன்று அமெரிக்காவிலும் ஐரோப்பாவிலும் மட்டுமே அத்தகைய வாழ்க்கை இயல்வது. நம்மில் பலர் உண்மையில் அவரைக் கண்டு அகத்தே பொறாமை கொள்கிறோமோ? (கண்டிப்பாக நான் இல்லை. நான் என் விருப்பப்படி மட்டுமே இக்கணம் வரை வாழ்ந்தவன். ஒரு நாளையும் எனக்கு மகிழ்வில்லாததாகச் செலவிடாதவன்)
இந்த உரையாடலிலும் அவருடைய உள்ளம் தாவித்தாவிச் செல்வதை பார்த்துக்கொண்டே இருக்கிறேன். அந்த உரையாடல் முழுக்க அவரைத்தான் பார்த்துக் கொண்டிருந்தேன். நான் அவரைப்போல ஒரு மகத்தான கதாபாத்திரத்தை எழுதவேண்டும் என எண்ணினேன். அல்லது வெண்முரசில் அர்ஜுனன் என எழுதிவிட்டேனா என்ன?
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madhusudhan194
August 8, 2022
“Maybe ego clashes there and Mani wants to stand out, I didn’t see any other actors giving extraordinary performances in his movies since Nayakan.”
Allow me to disagree on this one. I don’t think Mani took credit for Nayagan’s success completely. He’s been very vocal, both in BR’s book and in other interviews about how Kamal contributed to the film in several ways. Plus allow me to say that it’s the die hard Kamal fanboy in you that thinks there have been no great performances in Mani’s films since. I personally think Vikram’s performance in Raavanan and Arjun’s in Kadal are the top two performances in Mani’s films, despite the mixed bags the films themselves were. Like many, i too have problems with Kamal’s melodramatic performances in Nayagan at certain places.
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ivan
August 8, 2022
“I don’t think Mani took credit for Nayagan’s success completely.”
That’s precisely what I’m saying. He was not in a position to take sole credit because MR didn’t mould Kamal as he was already a power house. But with other actors, we can argue he brought out the best in them.
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ivan
August 8, 2022
Vikram is not even 10% of Kamal and he has already done rogue/rustic characters. Doing a cross sectional roles (one specific point of that character’s life) like Raavanan aren’t as challenging as doing longitudinal roles (character’s life over a period of time) like in Nayagan. The closest I could think of is Lal in Iruvar, but he wasn’t convincing. Him biting Rai’s mole was cringe worthy to say the least because he isn’t charming. I think Arvind Swamy did a better job in Thalaivi.
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MANK
August 8, 2022
I think when Kamal hits big, he hits really big, even bigger than Rajni. Sakalakalavallavan and Apoorva sagodarangal are the biggest hits of ’80s. Indian, and Avvai shamughi were two of the biggest hits of ’90s. But with the average fare, Kamal’s films always grosses less than Rajni, or even other mass stars like Vijayakant . I feel Vikram’s success is on those lines
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shaviswa
August 8, 2022
When I was in school, Kamal’s performance in Nayagan blew me away. I thought that was the greatest ever that any actor could attempt to do.
I revisited Nayagan recently. I found his performance ho-hum. I was thinking – why did I think this was the greatest ever an actor can produce? There are so many places where he is clearly hamming away. There are many scenes which seem to be way too melodramatic, over the top. So many scenes were written to make it all so convenient. The writing too was not great.
Does this mean the film has not aged well? I still find his performance in 16 Vayathinile as well as Moondram Pirai (barring the climax scene) to be fabulous. So it is not just how I see films nowadays.
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Heisenberg
August 8, 2022
One great thing about Kamal is he constantly credits and speaks in awe of his gurus and inspirations – dead or alive. Makes it feel like none of current generation heroes have had any mentors or manaseega gurus.
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Madan
August 8, 2022
shaviswa: Your take may not be so popular here but I do find parts of his Nayagan performance overwrought. And from that point on, serious Kamal often was overwrought until the post Hey Ram phase where he started acting ‘less’ (Virumaandi /VV). I do prefer his performances on Sigappu Rojakkal, Moonram Pirai and AS to Nayagan.
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shaviswa
August 8, 2022
@Madan
I agree. While I have always been a fan of his comedies, his serious movies during the 90s were not my cup of tea. In fact, I did not like even his much lauded Anbe Sivam.
After a long gap, I loved his serious performance in Papanasam. Despite the not so favourable comparison with Mohan Lal, I still feel that Kamal did full justice to that role.
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R. Kailasham
August 10, 2022
@ MANK: “Indian, and Avvai shamughi were two of the biggest hits of ’90s.” Were they bigger than Basha and Muthu? I doubt it. Perhaps you could enlighten me.
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symba rao
August 12, 2022
Brilliant stuff..v need more such interviews with other legends too lik Big B,Naseeruddin shah ,Mammooty n mohanlal
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Srinivas R
August 12, 2022
@ R.Kailasham – Indian was definitely bigger than Basha and Muthu, Avvai Shanmugi was not as big as Basha from what I remember.
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
August 28, 2022
CARTOON : VIKRAM
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
August 28, 2022
VIKRAM DOODLES
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Aman Basha
January 25, 2023
The greatest comeback story of 2022 congratulating the greatest comeback story of 2023. Hey Ram! fans like myself can only rejoice at the victory of Saket and his friend Pathaan.
Now BRji, where’s the thread for Pathaan? I’m only holding back my mega review out of curiosity over your reaction.
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Madan
January 26, 2023
Man, if the reaction at matinee show of Gaiety Galaxy is anything to go by, Pathan is going to sorely disappoint those who had already written it off. Have no idea if the movie is any good and don’t know when I am going to be able to see it but, commercially, this already looks like a rocketship.
Oh, just in case, when I mention Gaiety Galaxy, I am referring to the Filmi Fever video of audience reactions from there.
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An Jo
January 26, 2023
@ Madan this one will work huge even if it is mediocre and in actually, a 2.5* film.
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Aman Basha
January 26, 2023
@Madan: About Pathaan’s commercial prospects, the only debate left is whether I should title my orgasmic article, “The Return of the King” or “The Return of King Khan”.
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sanjay
January 26, 2023
I still cannot muster courage and venture to see a srk doing all those things with that miniature body and long hair. I will wait for a Dunki for that. But pleasantly surprised by box office in India with those sorts of numbers and acceptance. This seems like some sort of a rebellion against the establishment and what they have been doing to the country’s amiable roots for no rhyme or reason. As Komal Nahata said on TV yesterday it is actually a slap on those faces and real India emerging from the shadows of these undereducated power hungry boycott gangs in bed with these power brokers in government. They were unnecessarily taking credit for substandard movies Bollywood not doing well esp crap like LSC and Radhe.
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Krish
January 26, 2023
BR, review of Pathan Please?
Indias most culturally important star has taken back his mantle of No 1 and you havent posted a review yet?
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abishekspeare
January 27, 2023
BR’s on a break folks, with oil in his head and a cucumber in his face. He’ll be back next week i think!
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Rocky
January 27, 2023
Gai Bhains paani mein !!
( Kamal gone with Kangress)
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Rocky
January 27, 2023
Look at the last screenshot-
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Aman Basha
January 27, 2023
You fucking ideological zealot!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 How stupid are you? Premature ejaculation, hahaaaaa (in Vikram style cut panna mudiyadhu)
https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/website-hacked-no-merger-congress-says-makkal-needhi-maiam-172552
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Aman Basha
January 27, 2023
Ok, I got carried away with the cuss words, I apologize, but it was obvious how fake and ridiculous it looked. Just bother to verify before being a troll on a hitherto very dignified blog.
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Rocky
January 27, 2023
Oh the irony , uses cuss words and then preaches about being a troll.
Choron ko choe naza aatey hain log.
LMAO !!
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Rocky
January 27, 2023
K Annamalai Interview with Smita Prakash .
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Rocky
January 27, 2023
Could this be true ?
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Anu Warrier
January 28, 2023
@Rocky, I don’t know why you keep posting the same thing over and over again, but to my knowledge, when social media accounts are hacked, it is almost always with the intention of spreading misinformation and abusive content. Twitter and their ilk are not like email accounts where the hacker can mine content that is already there and ‘leak’ them.
But of course, you already knew that. Playing a provocateur under the mask of ‘just asking’ isn’t worthy of you. That’s what trolls on social media platforms do so they have plausible deniability. “We didn’t say that, we were ‘just asking’…”
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Rocky
January 28, 2023
Anu Warrier , The first post, honestly I had no idea at the time of posting that their website has been hacked . centerofright is a very responsible twitter handle. My guess is he did not know either at the time. Whether you believe me or not is entirely up to you.
The second post was for more for fun as I realized that they are claiming their website has been hacked. If it has offended you then I am really sorry and request BR to delete both the comments .
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