50 in 55 - wow!
‘Tis amazing that not even five years of your life
Has been outside the world of arts.
But legend has it that your father
Started preparing even before you were born!

The seventh day of November!
‘Tis not that we think of you only this one day.
You’re a constant undercurrent in our thoughts –
We relate any remote possible thing to you.
But today, you’re at the top of our minds.

Ah, the positive waves!
We wish you well today.
We are grateful for the glorious past, and
Our desire is you entertain and
Educate us for years to come.

What you mean to us!
You are the man who raised the level of
Appreciation, Knowledge and Passion
For movies amongst us.
Even outside that sphere, you astound and inspire us.

Sometimes, greed feels good!
We want more from you,
We want more of you.
We are a voracious lot.
Our good wishes have that innate selfishness.

Looking back at the past gives us a different and often wholesome perspective of events. It helps one derive confidence from accomplishments, learn from mistakes and recharge for a fresh new year. In our case, of course, we’re looking at Kamal’s 2008. To call this year eventful would probably be an understatement.

Dasavathaaram

The biggest event of the year was, obviously, the release of Dasavathaaram. In preparation for over 2 years, the movie released on June 13 to a overwhelming response, after many announced and rumoured dates (April 10, April 17, June 6).

The publicity build-up was slow and steady, unlike the bombardment of Aalavandhaan. In fact, many were wary of the hype being reminiscent of the 2001 failure. However, the reality matched or surpassed the expectations. Stills and the trailer were put out in a carefully phased manner to create excitement while not revealing too much about the movie. Here’s the progression: Avtar Singh in mid-air -> muscular Nambi in action -> Govind in lab -> miscellaneous ones before the audio release -> more stills along with the trailer -> miscellaneous ones shortly before the release. Actually, the buzz hit top gear with the release of the fast-paced trailer. Both the trailer and the public analysis that followed had a taste of things to come. The trailer had literally-blink-and-miss flashes of the ten roles and fans caught it.

In between all these came the high-profile audio release function featuring Jackie Chan and Amitabh Bachchan among others. After a painful gap (that was worth the wait ultimately), the movie arrived to a rousing reception. The media coverage was unprecedented. After the movie quickly reached blockbuster proportions, the ten characters were officially revealed.

The movie generated unparalleled reactions in the real and online worlds. Whether it was movie folks or bloggers, the excitement was infectious. The vibrations even rocked Google. But ultimately, the box-office spoke loudly and records were shattered all around.

Marmayogi & More

Even as Dasavathaaram was on the way, we heard of Marmayogi. Everything seemed to be proceeding well like a typical Kamal movie while problems with Pyramid Saimira, the co-producer, were rumoured. Again, things seemed back on track and news about cast and crew resumed flowing. Finally, the movie hit a roadblock citing the global economic meltdown as the reason. With no confirmation yet, along with a mention of Thalaivan Irukkindraan, the fate of the movie hangs in balance, even as there is revelation of Pyramid Saimira running into all kinds of trouble.

Interviews

Kamal’s interviews are always a delight to watch or read. He always manages to make each one interesting, while also revealing something new about himself. This year was loaded with many of them, especially as a by-product of Dasavathaaram’s promotion. Check out the top quotes below before diving into the year’s best for S (Sathyam Cinemas magazine), Hindustan Times / The Times of India, DNA / BusinessOfCinema.com, Mumbai Mirror and The Times of India.

The best part is that the producer was smiling at the start of the film and he still is smiling when it’s complete - which is very rare.

Just making Dasavathaaram alone would not have been sufficient; a release pattern like this combined with the product is what is making it work so well…Never before has a Tamil film been released on this scale.

I don’t know what I did right, but I hope I can do it again.

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.

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?”

I have spent 500 hours doing make up itself and it takes a lot of perseverance and belief in what you are doing to keep doing it. If I spent that much time inside a cockpit I would be a successful commercial pilot.

“…There is a downside to everything. If we take ourselves too seriously, we actors will definitely need a psychiatrist.”

From the perspective of international standards, money and talent is being invested in the right direction and I feel that in two years from now nothing called Bollywood will exist.

To me the ascent of man in itself is a mind-boggling thing. And Darwin’s theory is something I believe to an extent. In fact, if somebody asks me what gothram I am, I always joke and say Darwin gothram. What I do try is to keep fit. For ultimately it is the survival of the fittest.

“…I am deeply hurt by what is happening around in the name of religion. I personally feel, whenever there is a crisis, God becomes a mere witness. I am happy with my decision,” he explains.

“…Spirituality makes you rest, makes you content. I will only settle down when I am in a coffin, under the earth or inside the fire. Till then I will keep myself active and alive…”

The other unusual interview was on books in the Tamil magazine Puthagam Peshudhu.

Social Service

Kamal is known for promoting social service through his fans’ association (Narpani Iyakkam). This year too, he kept the ball rolling with donation of exam kits to needy students in March and ceiling fans to orphanages in July. But the bigger involvement was as brand ambassador of Hridaya Ragam, the effort of the World Malayalee Council to conduct free paediatric heart surgeries.

Fans

Speaking of fans, there was quite a bit of activity on that front too. Kamal held a photo session for fans in February, like the previous year , and also felicitated some on the occasion. For his birthday, he discouraged celebrations on account of the Srilankan Tamils’ problem.

On the association front, there was some strong action. Key officials including the chief, R Gunaseelan, were sacked in August, for apparent misconduct.

At a smaller level, Arif, a fan from Kerala, declared his love for Kamal through a music video titled Avatharam.

Death of Colleagues

This year was, unfortunately, also big in terms of the passing away of many of his colleagues, one of them really close. That was Sujatha Rangarajan the writer. Kamal sent out a touching condolence message. Others were CV Sridhar, the director and MN Nambiar, the veteran actor.

Honouring Seniors

KM Aadimoolam, the famous artist, too passed away this year. Kamal released a biography of his and paid homage.

While paying respects to the departed was essential, Kamal did not miss honouring the living too. Manorama celebrated her 50 years in the movie field and Kamal was there to felicitate her.

Events

There were two protests held by the Tamil film industry this year, in the form of fasts. In April, it was for the Cauvery-Hogenakkal problem and then we had the one in November for the sake of Srilankan Tamils. At both places, Kamal shined as one of the sanest voices.

Towards the end of the year, Kamal participated in quite a few events related to film appreciation and production. In addition to being the Chief Guest at the closing ceremony of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, he took part in a seminar on UK-India collaboration and the Indian Screenwriters Conference.

Audio release functions have become major launch pads for movies these days. Kamal graced quite a few in 2008 including Kodaikanal, Jayamkondaan and A Aa E Ee.

There were the customary wedding functions too. We had a whole lot of them in fact — Sibiraj, Prabhu’s daughter, Sarathkumar’s niece, Vairamuthu’s son, Senthil’s son, Professor Ku. Gnanasambandhan’s daughter, Mohan Natarjan’s daughter, Ahathian’s daughter and Arvind Krishna / Shreya Reddy.

Controversies

Controversies have been hounding Kamal, especially for the past few years. This year, we had the anti-Hindu allegations against Dasavathaaram, which was ultimately quashed in court.

Then there were the insiders, former associates, in fact. Bharathiraja, the great director of the past and the blabber-mouth of the present, attacked Dasavathaaram first and later Kamal’s acting skills. The grapes turned sour for Saran, another director coincidentally. After losing out on the opportunity to work with Kamal, Saran accused him of not returning advance money. Kamal watched in typical silence as both controversies died out.

Personal Life

There were no significant developments on the personal front. But we got to know a bit more of him this year, first as a father in Shruti’s music performance at the Rolling Stones India launch and then as a companion through an interview of Gautami.

Blasts from the Past

This year, we had quite a few interesting peeks into Kamal’s past. The long-kept secrets of Kamal’s dwarf act in Apoorva Sagodharargal (Appu Raja) were mostly let out by its director, Singeetham Sreenivasa Rao. As for the long-pending Marudhanayagam, after the trailer on the Internet in late 2006, came a few fantastic stills featuring Kamal. Also, we had a blog post on Kamal’s days in drama.

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]

This year, Kamal’s birthday received more coverage than earlier years, possibly as a result of the post-Dasavathaaram hype.

Express Buzz carried a piece with messages from a few actresses he has starred with — Sneha, Shobhana and Devayani. A sample from the first one:

He’s a pure genius when it comes to acting. But imagine the humility it takes to actually come to a new, young actress, and ask her not to get intimidated by other big actors in the scene!

The same Web-site also carried another tribute.

Sify.com published a slideshow of his performances which deserved the National Award but didn’t make it, along with his filmography.

Rediff.com featured Kamal’s birthday as part of entertainment history. Yahoo! India and Indiaglitz published birthday messages, heaping praise on Kamal. Behindwoods carried a slideshow of his phases over the years.

[With inputs from Ananth]

I was born as a Kamal fan, I think. When I came into existence, Kamal was a rising star. From what my mother says, possibly the first lines I tried to sing as a kid was “mangaikkul kaadhalenum gangaikkul naan vizhundhaen…” (from “Orae naal…” of Illamai Oonjalaadigiradhu).

Through the Eighties, my uncle, who was a typical Kamal fan of those times, fuelled my passion. At that time, there are many Kamal movies of which I have only “heard the stories” from him. My father claims that he is a Sivaji fan; but I guess he liked to go to Kamal movies. That’s how I got to watch most of the popular Kamal movies of that time.

In my teenage years, when I became all the more interested in movies, I started appreciating Kamal even more, paying attention to his non-acting skills like screenplay and singing. Now, of course, I’m convinced of Kamal’s greatness and hence this blog.

Over these years, I’ve followed his life through various kinds of media. I understand him more and more as days pass. Something that surprises me is that most of my views are similar to his — not that I picked up ideas from him really. I’m happy about it and, of course, it helps me understand him better.

I’m not fanatical about him. But I truly believe he is a man whose life is worth looking at.

Happy birthday, sir! You make my life better.

As we gear up to remember Kamal a little more on his birthday of November 7 comes this news. Kamal has sent out a press release asking fans to refrain from celebrating his birthday on account of the sufferings of Tamils in the neighbouring country of Srilanka.

If you enjoy the below message from Kamal, check out the even better version, if you know Tamil.

[With inputs from Ananth]

With randramble

Birthday reflections are far from peaceful preoccupations. Even if he has lived an eventful 53 years and has a cap cluttered with feathers, contentment seems a far cry for Kamal. Every interview smacks of a Schindlerian “I could have done more”, which works out just fine for the greedy viewer.

Attention grabbing. That is what artists do for a living. But the blink-and-you-miss moments — which is a sort of Kamal signature — make meeting-the-artist midway quite a task. And of course the rewards are great. So, how about sharing the rewards then, just like we did last year?

All ye, who have seen MMKR, would recall the short-lived giggle that Kameswaran lets go, when ChakkubAi plonks herself on him and just before reigning himself when Tiruppu shoots a scorching look. With all due respect to Crazy here, it was one of those several Kamal-Singeetham moments. One can actually trace the idea back to a few passing frames in Aboorva SahOdarargaL.

This in the famous driving lesson, that has screamers like “nice-A vandhittEn”. The car is stuck in the middle of the road and Raja and Janaki have to exchange seats. Kamal steals a wickedly funny moment here. No lines, no stopping the viewer to direct his attention to the moment — just an ingenious expression that send the observant viewer rolling. Here it is in a thousand words:

Now, this is becoming a Singeetham special too. In the path-breaking movie that was Pushpak aka Pesum Padam, acting is restrained by the lack of dialogues. From balcony to balcony, he speaks with the girl he likes. After telling him about her parents, she asks him about his. Talking cheerfully till then, he becomes sad. He recovers quickly, puts out his tongue to indicate that they are dead. She empathasises and melancholy sets in, with the violin background of L Vaidhyanathan.

Moving onto little bit more serious stuff, Nandhu of Aalavandhaan (Abhay) is in one of his hallucinations and the doctor asks him where he picked up so much violence from. Combining the innocence of the character and the mischief of the writer, he replies that he learnt it by watching cartoons.

That’s it from us. What’s your “Kamal moment”? Let’s have a better show this year in the Comments section.

Kamal’s birthday is a big day for fans. The social service activities reach their peak on this day. This time around, we have quite a bit of celebration on TV too.

The fans’ association, Kamal Haasan Narpani Iyakkam, is organising a massive blood donation drive, designating November as “Life Saver Month”. 15000 fans will donate blood all over Tamil Nadu.

Meanwhile, Vijay TV, which has always displayed a fondness for Kamal, is coming up with a slew of programmes. One of them is Kamal Kaviyarangam, a literary event featuring poets. It will be conducted by Professor Gnanasambandhan, who is a friend of Kamal. The actual event, which allows free entry, will be held on Sunday, November 4, while the recorded version will be telecast on the birthday.

While it is appreciable to recognise Kamal for what he is, a literary event singing paeans seems to be going a bit overboard. Anyway, fans will have a field day.

[With input from Ananth]

More photos are here, this time from a big fan. Karthikeyan, who is involved in the Orkut group among other things, has a Flickr album dedicated to Kamal. This includes photos of events that Kamal took part in, of posters, fans’ activities and what not. Sample a few….

Kamal and Tushar Gandhi at the release function of the latter’s book

Birthday poster, 2006

The man himself, standing in front of a Dasavatharam launch poster

These long-overdue photos were taken during Kamal’s meeting with fans on 4 February. The first one features Kamal kneeling down to pose with a physically disabled fan. The photo at the bottom is a regular one (courtesy: ‘Kamal’ Karthikeyan).

Kamal had a practice of celebrating his birthday with his fans. Each year, a function was organised featuring some Tamil literary people, holding a few competitions and also involved some donations. Last year, he was shooting for Vaettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu in New York. This year, it was Dasavatharam. Is Kamal moving away from celebrations?

Anyway, some Kamal fans, part of the Narpani Mandram, continued the tradition this year. They donated computer-related stuff to Thai Thamizh school (backed by lyricist Thamarai). Some photos too are available. Kamal himself had donated 50,000 Rupees to the same school earlier.