I find Kamal Haasan the most exciting filmmaker/actor in India. He’s constantly trying to surpass himself. Most others who have started off with a bang, have tended to rest on their laurels, They get carried away by media hype a little too soon and stop growing.

MF Husain, November 1997

Kamal Haasan has successfully resisted the temptation to be branded. "Being a maverick prevents you from becoming an icon," he admits. "It's a dangerous gamble, but my hope is Brando. Unlike Dustin Hoffman, he succeeded in doing his own thing..." And yet remained a cult figure. When it comes to acting Kamal Haasan has no serious competition in this country. Through his years of innovation, his aim has been to "run away" from monotony. Playing a vast range of roles from a midget in Appu Raja to a ruthless don in Nayagan, and the woman in the gender-bender blockbuster Avvai Shanmughi, Kamal has made a niche for himself through the sheer transformative energy of his multi-layered performances. And to think that the man never wanted become an actor! The one-time choreographer who taught actresses how to shake a leg, makes no bones about the fact that he had come into the industry "to become a director".

This probably explains his insistence on debating and discussing minute details. His tendency to have a say in every aspect of making a film. Eventually he started scripting all his films so that he could do his own thing, and then got into production. Of the twelve films he has produced, not one has been a losing proposition. And he is confident that his latest film, Chachi 420, will also emerge a winner despite the initial problems that prompted him to replace the original director, adman Shantanu Sheorey. It is Kamal’s knowledge and grasp of the filmic medium which keeps him going, experimenting and innovating tirelessly, despite winning the highest awards and accolades through the decades. And the need to stay one step ahead of the mimics. Once the mimics take you over, he says,"you are doomed". You are no longer a "novelty store". It means you are stagnating. "I lose interest in an actor whom I can effortlessly mimic," he says.

He was always conscious of the fact that his producers were placing their money and trust in him. When accusations began flying against stars who demanded "huge"sums of money from producers, he stopped asking for a down payment. Instead, he like Rajnikant, started asking for 'areas'. So that if a film failed, he too stood to lose.

Nothing succeeds like success. Kamal has now come full circle and is back at the point which he originally started out from. Once more he is the aspiring, though not-so-young, director. With Chachi 420 he makes his directorial debut by default. Because of a showdown with Shantanu he had to slip into the director’s shoes himself. Marudanaayagam was to have been his original launching pad as director, but now it will be his second directorial venture. It is estimated that the budget for the historical will run into about Rs 20 crores, making it the most expensive film in the history of Indian cinema. But Kamal isn’t worried. “I have full trust in my director,” he grins. The director, of course, is himself. And if he is playing around with crores of rupees, that ain’t nobody’s business but his own. Because he is the producer of the film as well.

For Kamal, the next stop seems to be the exhibition sector — a chain of theatres that will do away with middlemen and give filmmakers more creative freedom. It needs Rs 150 crores. He’ll eventually do it, he says.

(...contd)

KAMAL HAASAN'S SIGNIFICANT TEN