Here’s an interview with S Muthukumar, photographer and son of DNS (long-time associate of Kamal), which appeared in Express Buzz a while ago. He has worked with Kamal in many movies — Hey Ram, Marudhanayagam, Mumbai Xpress, Dasavathaaram and upto Unnaipol Oruvan. In addition to his experiences with Kamal, you also get to see a very new still from Marudhanayagam! Below is a snippet from the interview before you click away!

Kamal Haasan is a great person to work with. He ensures that everyone eats at the same time and the same food is served to all. Every moment spent with Kamal Haasan’s crew is a learning experience.You can pick up so much by just being around them.

The valedictory function of the recently concluded Golden Jubilee celebrations is to be telecast on Vijay TV on October 12 and 13. The promotional video of the programme is out. The idea behind putting this up is not to promote a specific TV channel but to provide glimpses of the performances and what various people had to say. Enjoy!

[Video courtesy: Behindwoods]

The Golden Jubilee celebrations organised by Vijay TV with the fans’ association came to a close on September 28, Monday. Though the valedictory function was not as big as originally envisioned, it provided many memorable moments nevertheless. While we wait to watch it on Vijay TV by the weekend, here are updates and photos from the media.

Rajnikanth, Sarojadevi, K Balachander, Mohanlal, Mammootty, Venkatesh, Sarathkumar and others spoke at the function. Here are details from Dinamani, Nakkheeran and Maalaimalar (1 | 2). Illaiyaraaja and AR Rahman too wished Kamal on the occasion.

Rajni’s frank and generous speech was covered separately by Nakkheeran,. His camaraderie with Kamal was reported by Sify.com and Behindwoods.

Kamal gave an emotional response. Check it out at Dinamani and Nakkheeran.

Several of Kamal’s leading ladies including Radhika, Gautami, Urvashi and Jayachitra shared their experiences. Read about it on Maalaimalar.

It seems like the same set of photos were distributed by Vijay TV to the press. You can check it out on Behindwoods, IndiaGlitz, Chennai365 (1 | 2), CelluloidTamil, or SivajiTV.com. The Hindu though carried a slideshow of their own photos.

Read other reports from Sify.com, Thatstamil, The Times of India, NDTV, Express Buzz, Dinathanthi and Maalaisudar.

Prior to this function, Kamal and others went to the Marina Beach on the Kamal Express, where he garlanded Sivaji Ganesan’s statue.

[With inputs from Ananth]

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]

As part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations organized by Vijay TV, “Kamal Express” rolled out of Chennai on August 24, as per plan.

The bus left from AVM Studios and was flagged off by AVM Saravanan. It is apt that the bus originated from here since Kamal’s first movie Kalathur Kannammaa was shot here. Others present included Aksharaa Haasan, Subbulakshmi, Rama Narayanan and VC Guhanathan. Read more from The Hindu and Behindwoods.

IndiaGlitz has a video and photos for a peek into the bus, speeches by the guests and more. Also, check out Galatta.com, Behindwoods and Chennai365 (1 | 2 | 3).

Several members of the Kamal Haasan Orkut community were there, including Shankar ‘Ulagam’. Check out their celebrations and posters in these photos.

The bus was also sighted at Puducherry (Pondicherry). Did you catch the bus anywhere? Let us know your experiences in the Comments section!

[With inputs from Ananth and photos via Shankar ‘Ulagam’]

When Kamal stepped into his Golden Jubilee year on August 12, there were several who wished him. Kamal celebrated the occasion with a few close associates and well-wishers.

There were quite a few who put out ads in newspapers, while partially seeking publicity for themselves. Here are some of them.

Unlike some earlier occasions including Dasavathaaram, the media did justice this time.

• NDTV, CNN-IBN and Times Now carried interview snippets. The first two videos are featured above. Watch Kamal talk about his childhood acting experiences, “sibling” relationship with Sridevi, about Mani Ratnam and acting with Mohanlal among other things. He also mentions for the first time about not going ahead with 19 Steps (or The 19th Step?).
• Thenaali.com featured a long tribute from Prakashraj (aka Prakash Rai).
• Deccan Chronicle carried a short interview, where Kamal underplays the significance of the milestone.
• Nighazhuvugal.com came up with a piece that included a list of all his movies.
• The Times of India came up with a good photo gallery.
• Vikatan.com came up with a list of 50 tidbits.
• Read other reports from The Hindu, Sify.com, The Times of India, Thatstamil, Chennai365, Galatta.com, India Today, SivajiTV.com, Behindwoods, and Dinamani and Maalaisudar. Sify.com now also has a separate page for Kamal-related news and other stuff.

[With inputs from Ananth]

After a long wait, this week, details of the Golden Jubilee celebrations emerged. The series of events titled “Ulaganayagan Kamal Aimbathu – Oru Thodarum Sarithiram” (Universal Hero Kamal 50 — A Continuing Legacy) is arranged by Vijay TV, as mentioned earlier, with support from the Nadigar Sangam (South Indian Film Artistes Association).

We fans are in for a treat! Below are the phases of the celebrations. Check out more details from The Hindu, Chennai365 and Behindwoods.

Sarath Kumar, A.R. Murugadoss, Khushboo, Myshkin, S.P.B. Charan, Yugi Sethu, Cheran and Ravi K. Chandran are the core team working with Vijay TV. The plans for celebrations were announced in a press meet involving them.

IndiaGlitz and SivajiTV have videos covering almost the entire event. Don’t miss the emotional outpourings of Murugadoss and Cheran, and also a bit where Sarath mimics Kamal.

News reports are available from Thatstamil, Dinathanthi, Sify.com, ChennaiOnline.com, News Today, Nighazhvugal.com, ExpressBuzz (1 | 2), The Times of India, IndiaGlitz and Galatta.com.

During this press-meet, they also played a video message from Kamal, expressing his gratitude. Check out his humility and motivation when you read the message at Galatta.com, Dinamani or Chennai365.

Vijay TV telecast an introductory programme yesterday, including highlights of the press meet, Kamal’s message and all the above details.

Unnaippol Oruvan is nearing its day of release and this is a good time to recap on the updates we have got in the last couple of months.

The last available information is that it will release on August 12, to coincide with the release date of Kalaththur Kannamaa, Kamal’s first movie. Check out Sify.com, IndiaGlitz, Galatta.com, Thatstamil, ChennaiOnline, Behindwoods and Cinegoer.com.

Here is what else we know through official and non-official means.

• Unconfirmed reports from Behindwoods, IndiaGlitz, Galatta.com say that veteran actress Lakshmi is part of the movie. She is said to be playing the role of Chief Secretary (to the Chief Minister). In the original A Wednesday, the Chief Minister himself had a significant role.
• We haven’t heard a lot about Eenadu, the Telugu version. Here’s an interview of Venkatesh in The Times of India, where he says that the role is modified to suit his image.
• Manushyaputhran too has narrated his experiences to the media. He told Mangaiyar Malar that the opporutnity to write a song for the movie came out of the blue one day. He revealed that the song about “the greatest tragedy of our times” is sung by Kamal himself. He was ecstatic about Shruti Haasan and has said that he is proud of writing the first song with her music.
• Meanwhile, Shruti spoke about her experiences to The Hindu and ChennaiOnline.
• Two younger generation actors who are part of the movie are Anuja Iyer and Ganesh Venkataraman. Anuja spoke about Kamal’s patience and being inspired by him to Kumudam, which was reported by Dinamalar. She was also featured on The Hindu and Galatta.com. Ganesh was heard on The Times of India and Galatta.com.
• Eric Felberg from Hollywood is the special effects supervisor. He has worked on Shri Anjaneya before and also was supposed to be part of Marmayogi too.
• Manoj Soni from Bollywood is the cinematographer. He seems to have been chosen for his experience with the digital medium. Hear him go ga-ga on Express Buzz and Galatta.com.
• Writer Era. Murukan was interviewed by Ergo. He talked about his experiences with Kamal and Mohanlal, while also giving us some insight into the script. Here’s some background on Era. Murukan from Behindwoods.
• Era. Murukan writes about his experiences on his blog,  now and then. In fact, in his most recent piece, he says that he’s writing a whole book based on it called Sight at Shoot! He writes about Kamal’s tirelessness and specifically about a shot in which Kamal impressed him.

‘That was an one-man symphony, kamal-ji’ – I told. He just smiled.

• Mohanlal is said to have wrapped up his portions in early June.
• Kamal talked about the movie during the promotion of Dashavtar to The Indian Express.
• The Times of India carried some details about the economics of Unnaippol Oruvan.

Neeraj Pandey, writer-director of A Wednesday, has expressed his opinion on the remake. He told India Abroad News Service that he’s looking forward to it. This is what he had to say on PassionforCinema.com.

Q) What do you think about the cast of Kamal Hasan & Mohanlal in the Tamil version?

Great casting.

We fans, await, first for the trailer and stills and then for the movie itself…

[With extensive inputs from Ananth]

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]

After releasing the teaser trailer of Unnaippol Oruvan last month, Kamal met the press along with significant members of the cast and crew. Those present on stage included Mohanlal, Chakri Toleti and Shruti Haasan.

Kamal announced that shooting is proceeding at a good speed and should be wrapped up in May. The release may be postponed to August 12 (the same date on which Kalathur Kannamma released in 1959), to mark Kamal’s 50th year in movies as per fans’ request. While Mohanlal plays the police commissioner in Tamil, Venkatesh will take it up in the Telugu version titled Eenadu.

Also present on the occasion were 2 more debutants –Era. Murukan as dialogue writer and Manushyaputhran as lyricist. Both are associated with the late Sujatha, one of Kamal’s favourites. The former has been writing about Unnaippol Oruvan and Kamal for sometime. His blog / Web-site isn’t very navigable though — try your luck. Manushyaputhran earlier featured in “Kamal Kaviyarangam” in 2007.

IndiaGlitz has a good video of the press meet and fantastic photos. A short video report from IBNLive is featured above. Read reports from Sify.com, The Hindu, News Today, ChennaiOnline, Behindwoods, IndiaGlitz, Galatta.com, Thatstamil, Webdunia, Dinamani, Dinathanthi, Maalai Sudar, Cinesouth, Envazhi and TamilCinema.com. Photos are available on Sify.com, Behindwoods and Galatta.com.

[With inputs from Ananth, Velmurugan Ranganathan]

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]

On March 25, Kamal participated in the audio / trailer launch function of Pasanga, as announced earlier. But the pleasant surprise was that it turned out to be a memorable event for all-round camaraderie.

Ameer, who received the trailer from Kamal, set the tone with his open idolisation of Kamal. Kamal responded with modesty, while also using the opportunity to talk about Tamil movies in general, need for separate ‘XXX’ movies and even Slumdog Millionaire. Sasikumar was brief yet effective. Balamuralikrishna also added his bit. Watch the video of the delightful speeches on IndiaGlitz. The above video from SivajiTV.com and the one on ChennaiOnline are shorter versions of Kamal’s speech.

Read reports from Sify.com, MSN, Behindwoods, IndiaGlitz, Webdunia, Galatta.com, ChennaiOnline, Dinathanthi, Nakkheeran and TamilCinema.com.

Extensive photos are available from Behindwoods, IndiaGlitz, Galatta.com, Chennai 365 (1 | 2), KollywoodToday.com and Nakkheeran.

[With inputs from Ananth]

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]

Editor’s Note:
Please welcome an enthusiastic new author, Sidhartha Shankar!

Kamal Haasan and Jackie Chan are legends in their own right. Kamal is known for his great versatility as an actor, whether it be playing a village buffoon in 16 Vayathinile, a slum-based don in Nayagan, a cop in Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu, or a psychopath in Aalavandhaan, Kamal has proved he has what it takes to essay different types of roles convincingly and effectively.

Jackie Chan on the other hand, is world-renowned for his daredevil stunts, which he has made it his norm, and he has taken pains in entertaining the public by risking life and limb on the big screen. Up until now, Jackie has broken possibly ever part of his body, having performed some of the most jaw-dropping stunts ever, whether it be sliding through electric wires or tumbling head down from a five-storey clock tower.

Kamal Hassan & Jackie Chan are men who strive hard to please their audiences through hard work, and their efforts are rewarded in the end, because these are two men that are honest in what they do and accomplish.

For a long time, I have been a huge fan of both these legends and I have dreamt of a possible meeting between the two. Little did I realize that it will actually materialize one day, when both these men would finally meet at the audio launch of Haasan’s most ambitious project to date, Dasavathaaram in April 2008. Jackie Chan liked the film and felt that Indian cinema would overtake Hong Kong and China in the “eyes of the international audience”! Jackie praised the star of the film, stating that “the star just like me, he can sing, he can dance, he can do stunts, he can fight”!

The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, presiding over the event, made startling comparisons between the two men, stating the facts that they were both born in the same year 1954, that they were also born on the 7^th of the month — Jackie was born on the seventh of April, and Kamal was born in November — and that both men never shied away from taking any risk to make their films successful.

Kamal Haasan confessed at the audio launch that he had during his career, tried emulating Jackie Chan’s stunts, which resulted in “32 fractures” to his body; something which is apparent in Kamal’s films, where we see him doing some daredevil stunts of his own. For example, in his film, Kalaignan, he runs over vehicles and jumps up to a double-decker bus, something that is very similar to what Jackie did in Police Story. Also if you notice in Indran Chandran, where Kamal is trying to evade his purseurs, you see him jumping over walls and sliding underneath objects and demonstrating his fighting skills, something that Jackie would do. And in Meendum Kokila, when Kamal is being thrashed around by a powerful thug, he remembers the Bruce Lee movies, and hurls his “kung fu” kick at the villain. Ironically, Jackie Chan has always been held in comparison with the late Bruce Lee, and actually served as a stuntman in two of Lee’s films. Indeed there is a striking similarity between Kamal and Jackie.

At the same function, Jackie expressed a yearning to work with Kamal, something that the latter reciprocated, urging Chan to keep his promise of working on a possible film project together. I hope one day these two men work together, for it will be absolutely sensational seeing those two men share the big screen together and deliver action as they always do.

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]