Kamal seems to have a done a whole set of interviews in Mumbai, as part of promotion for Dasavatharam. None of the interviews mention Dashaavtar though. Here are two more of them, one each for Hindustan Times and Times of India. The North Indian press seems to be obsessed with his personal life more than anything else, but Kamal is unfazed. Here are some highlights from the enjoyable interviews. As usual, Kamal proves to be a “quote factory”!

Both the times when you separated from your wives, there was another woman involved. Sarika led to your split with Vani and Simran caused a rift between Sarika and you.
Unless it’s a gay marriage, there’s always another woman involved.

All I can say is that marriage is a folly that is slowly becoming redundant. I have four vaccination marks. In our time, they were a necessary ordeal. It’s different today. I’m hopeful that one day like the vaccinations, the institution of marriage too will go away.

A broken marriage isn’t an offence or crime. Today I am happy, yes, but my idea of being settled is only inside the coffin. Till then everything is mobile.

Planning a comeback to Hindi films?
Oh definitely. There’s plenty of money. But I’m a sucker for applause. I want to reach out to a bigger market.

So where do you think you went wrong?
I didn’t try hard enough. To succeed here, I needed to live in Mumbai, make films consistently, not have a release every four-five years. Still, the audience was kind, they didn’t forget me.

But I make occasional appearances here when I want to reach out to larger audience. It’s a different story in Tamil Nadu. There a film sells on my name alone.

Ten roles, isn’t he increasingly becoming self-indulgent in his films? “Who isn’t,” asked Kamal defensively. “Aren’t great actors like Yusuf saab and Amitabh self-indulgent? Who else should I love more than me? Brad Pitt?”

My politics is private like sex. I don’t want to spoil the fun by talking about it.

There have been several conjectures about my 10 get-ups complete with graphics. I could use them for some other movie.

I liked Om Shanti Om and might have liked it even more had I been less informed about cinema and wasn’t looking into unnecessary details like focus and colour. I’m like a cook who cannot savour a good dish without checking on the salt and sugar.

We believe in two different kinds of cinema. It’s unfair to pit one against the other. Would you ask Marlon Brando what he thought about John Wayne’s films? Or compare (Arnold) Schwarzenegger’s biceps to Woody Allen’s brains? Come on! Mr Rajnikant has made some good films. I’ve done some commercially successful films too.

…Unless Rajnikanth and I agree to work for free and later take the trade collection, I don’t see it happening. But, yes, it will be interesting to work together.

It’s being said that your next film will be with Walt Disney studio.
We’re in talks.

Apparently, Mallika Sherawat threw a lot of tantrums.
I wouldn’t know. I was the writer and star of the film. ( Smiles ) Everyone treated me well.