The premiere of Dashavtar was held on 16 April, Thursday at Mumbai. Kamal was there with his whole family. Few of Kamal’s industry friends also attended. It was heartening to see Yash Chopra and Rohan Sippy attend despite the ongoing producers’ strike.

See photos from MastiOne, Glamsham.com, Behindwoods, IndiaGlitz, NowRunning.com, Galatta.com . Read a report with photos from Rediff.com.

Below is a video from Glamsham.com covering the press meet that happened along with the premiere. Another amateurish version is available on YouTube.

Alongside, more pieces came out in the media as part of the movie promotion. The one from Reuters stood out — they had a series of short Q&A. Check out others from The Hindu, Hindustan Times, IBNLive (1 | 2) and IndiaGlitz. Above is a video from IBNLive.

[With inputs from Ananth]

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]

The promotion for Dashavtar has been low-key. Kamal has been promoting it in Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. Besides that, there have been just the conventional ads in newspapers (some of which are on display here) and posters around town.

Newspaper ad (Mumbai)

We get a few gems when Kamal gives out interviews. Here’s one from yet another gaping-fan-turned-reporter on The Pioneer. This piece also reveals the modest side of Kamal.

At the same time, Kamal also has to put up with irritating interviewers like the one on Headlines Today.Watch how he patiently handles pointless questions.

Newspaper ad (Bangalore)

Also, read other pieces from The Times of India  and Glamsham.com.

[With inputs from Ananth]

When Dasavathaaram released last year in Tamil and Telugu, the Hindi version was somehow left behind despite some publicity. Even when the movie broke records all over the world, Dashavtaar didn’t arrive. It has been shrouded in mystery till now and most fans gave up completely.

Then, for the past couple of months, there have been passing mentions of an upcoming release. Still, we weren’t excited really. Finally, now, Kamal announced the date as April 17 and is engaging in pre-release publicity in Delhi. Confirmation enough? We await with bated breath for Dashavtaar to light up the silver screen.

Watch the above video from IBNLive and read reports from Buzz18.com.

[With inputs from Ananth]

In February, Kamal participated in the annual FICCI FRAMES convention that he’s a regular at. This year, he had a keynote session titled “Focus South”. A video recording of it is available on Rajshri.com.

He gave out some very candid views and also took interviews on the sidelines. This is where Kamal confirmed that he’s remaking A Wednesday. Read reports from The Hindu, OneIndia and DNA.

One of the interviews Kamal did was with UTVI, part of the UTV group which is also behind A Wednesday. Kamal seems unprepared and disinterested. The interviewer tries to generalize Indian movies based on Bollywood and he keeps referring to Tamil and South Indian movies. Watch it here!

[With inputs from Ananth]

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]

Virumaandi (Pothuraju in Telugu) is remembered as a movie that bridged art and commerce successfully. Of course, that’s apart from the ‘Sandiyar’ name controversy. Here, we look at a few blasts from the past related to it.

ChennaiOnline had a long article revealing several behind-the-scenes details including apects like the bull-fight (jallikkattu) scene, art direction, editing, stunts and editing. Have a patient read and get to know some of the information that you may not know.

Kamal is always at the forefront of the movie medium and also possesses great foresight. Here’s an article where he talks about DVDs and distribution.

Virumaandi famously won an award at the PiFan film festival in Korea. After that, he expressed his happiness to The Hindu. Kamal also talked about a retrospective at the Rotterdam Film Festival earlier. Here are some excerpts:

“I see it as a kind of peer acceptance and that makes the award even more invaluable to me…”

“The whole thing came as a surprise to me. I had gone to the fest as an invitee. `Virumaandi’ was not an entry at the competition level and I had no inkling of the honour. There I was seated in the audience, waiting to put my hands together for the winner when my name was announced. I was confused because I was not on the stage with the other nominees … caught unawares, I did not even have a prepared text to thank the jury for the recognition,” laughs Kamal.

It (the citation) describes the film as one “that successfully manages to combine social and political drama, romance, humour, musical and spectacular action in one story of epic proportions…all the more impressive is the fact that it has been written, produced and directed by one man who also plays the lead role…”

“…When others tell me that I would have won international acclaim if I had been in the West, I turn around and tell them, this is my place and I should win world renown from here … with my kind of cinema.” And Kamal Hassan is doing just that.

The movie was also featured at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. Take a look at the write-up!

Ah, nostalgia! Time to check out the movie once more?

Here is some stuff that came up during the release time of Dasavathaaram, which have been waiting for a long time to be posted.

Let’s start with 2 videos from IBN. The first one is a pre-release interview by Kamal while the other one is more interesting. It compares Rajni and Kamal, particularly with respect to the frenzy experienced for Sivaji and Dasavathaaram.

Reporting during the release time had reached such a frenzy that we even had photos of film boxes reaching USA, like the one below.

There was also a piece of news at that time that the DVD would be officially released in about 50 days’ time!

As part of the publicity, Aascar Ravichandran was interviewed and he declared Kamal to be the “mother of the movie”. Here are a couple of the many interviews of Kamal: Businessworld | News Today.

Kamal had stated that he took the help of Shruti, his daughter for the American accents.

Rediff.com published interviews with Suresh Krissna and Ramesh Arvind. The former traces his association from the days of Ek Duuje Ke Liye. Here are some snippets:

Once the whole shoot was over, Kamalji would come to the hotel where all the assistants and cameramen were living, and play cards and have fun. It was pure entertainment and tremendous camaraderie. He never gave the impression that he was a star and we never felt we were working with one. Kamalji loved that unit as he was always close to Balachander Sir.

Kamalji watched me to grow from being a fifth assistant to Balachander Sir to becoming associate director of Punnagai Mannan…When I was ready to branch out as director, he asked me if I was interested in directing a film he was producing as well as acting. What more can anyone ask for? So I said fine. The film was Sathya.

Kamalji loves singing. I remember we all used to sit together and sing songs from old films and even play Antakshari [in Tamil].

Ramesh talks about the varied dimensions of Kamal he has experienced.

He always insists on international quality in every aspect. He loves novelty in scripts and narration. You can see him avoiding all kinds of cliches. He detests stupidity and does not want anything in the film to look illogical.

Acting with him is a bonus because he constantly advises you on how you can enhance your performance in the film.

He is a great friend who respects your space, guides you the right way without mincing words.

Behindwoods carried a long article in praise of Kamal.

And finally, here’s some humour (in Tamil) related to Dasavathaaram.

[With inputs from Ananth]

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]

It’s quite some time since we looked back at an old interview of Kamal. This one from Screen was done around 1995, when Kurudhippunal was out. The interview covers a wide range of topics, from direction to Hindi movies and from Sarika (his then-wife) to penning an autobiography. As usual, it is full of straight-talking.

As a rule, all interviews are meant for effect. That’s the way it should be. Celebrities should preserve a side to them that is not for public.Over the years, I have mastered the golden blend where I don’t lie, but don’t tell the complete truth either.

I cannot be accused of showing off in Nayakan and definitely not in Mahanadi. Maybe this has to do with the phase an actor goes through. I had a lot at stake during EDKL and I didn’t want to go unnoticed. I think the effort showed. Once the actor is assured of the applause, he settles down. So critics who say that Kamal Haasan is narcissistic are those who’re not updated on Kamal Haasan. I take my critics seriously. And if I’ve to take my cues from them, they had better be constructive and intelligent.

I gave up Hindi films too easily. I compared it to South cinema and became disillusioned.

I do a retake only when I can convince the director that what I have in the offing is better than the original. Mind you, I’m not always right.

I wanted to be the master. I wanted to dictate, not be dictated. I wanted to pursue films as a dream, not as a nine-to-five job.

I’m never self-conscious about anybody. My problem with Sarika working behind the scenes was of a different kind. Sarika and I are too independent in our thinking and therefore often tend to disagree. She’s an excellent worker, she’s highly dedicated and disciplined and once on the sets does not indulge in playing Kamal Haasan’s wife.

I’d have preferred it if there was more output. Somehow, a lot of time gets lost in floundering…The ideal situation would be to have at least four releases a year.

…Mahanadi is my all-time favourite, so is Kurudhipunal, but the credit for Kurudhipunal should go more to the producer, than the actor. Amongst my old films, I think I’m competent in Sagar Sangamam…I’d say that Nayakan and Thevar Magan are complete films.

…I should have directed a film 10 years ago. According to my friends I’m overdue by almost 20 years.

…To write an autobiography I’ll have to lie and the kind of truths I know will hurt too many people. Exposing so many people is vanity. I might do it some time later, but not now. I’m not ready for it as yet.

Though I pretend to be organised, I am not. Like most successful men, I have all the trappings of punctuality but it is restricted to checking the wristwatch for an appointment.

For certain films, it’s a waste of time to go into an indeph character study. These are roles that don’t demand energy.

The film is inspired from Govind Nihalani’s Drohkaal. The initial agreement was that we’d dub the film in Hindi after it was released down South. The director however had second thoughts. He said that the distributors were asking for refund from territories where Drohkaal hadn’t fared well.

I’m not the happy kind. I’ll never settle down for happiness.

Read Part I and Part II of the whole interview.

Sudhish Kamath, for The Hindu, interviewed Gautami, Kamal’s present companion. She provides some interesting insights into their relationship and also a level-headed look at Dasavathaaram. Take a look at the highlights before reading the whole article.

“He was Kamal Sir to me. He still is, but in a different way. He was one person I looked up to and thought the world of. With every level that I’ve gotten to know him, from the audience to star to his co-star to… He’s an immensely strong person, very, very compassionate. These are things that are never seen or heard because he never speaks of himself and people who know him don’t speak much. It is about sharing little joys, every moment, every day, it’s about the 24 hours… I think both of us felt that and it grew to the next stage.”

I have learnt perseverance from him. I have seen him go through all kinds of issues. He’s never ever come home with work tension. The kids will be all over him, the dogs will be over him and he’ll be playing with them. He would’ve probably left behind something of great magnitude back at office… He knows to compartmentalise.

I have never ever thought of telling him what he should be doing… he’s the master craftsman. I think that’s the root of this admiration.

“…I got married, I figured out how relationships work. I had a daughter, lost my parents. I understood that a relationship has to be participated with mutual respect and equal effort from both parties; if not, it’s not something I would like to spend my life on. So, I went about shaping my life with something I am happy with and with people I am comfortable with. Then, I fought cancer and I came out of that and did Dasavathaaram.”

“…My daughter needs to grow in an environment that is loving, wholesome, where there is no stress, where there is no kind of pressure of any kind…”

When it was finally ready, as he was watching it and being critical of himself, I was in complete awe. He’s done something that will, years later, give people encouragement.

The latest issue (July 2008) of S, the magazine from the famous Sathyam Cinemas of Chennai, features an interview with Kamal done shortly after Dasavathaaram. Kamal speaks frankly about the business aspects of the movie in the cover story titled “Colossus of a Different Kind”. He also reveals that he’s trying to rope in Amitabh Bachchan for Marmayogi. Here are some portions for a quick taste.

What brought about Dasavathaaram?
It was a sort of a vague; not a very scientific analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of other projects and an assessment of the existing competition, that got things started. There was also a lot of thought about why some films do well and how even very good ones, simply go down the drain.

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. We have very successfully countered the piracy market. Only the very lazy, like couch potatoes will watch it on DVD. Anyone who can go out for an idli, a paan or cigarettes can’t miss seeing the film in a theatre.

Especially women, who say it is like watching an old MGR film. I don’t know what I did right, but I hope I can do it again.

And the lesson we learn about films is that, no one person can claim responsibility for it. It is a democratic process and a great deal of teamwork. If at all anyone can take credit, it is the person who says it is good. But even he is not alone for just a few cannot make that difference. Film ultimately is the most democratic art form I have ever seen.

…people are commenting and there is a paper and explanations doing the rounds on the net–some have taken up arms against it and are for it.

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.

The cover of the magazine has a wonderful photograph of Kamal in black-and-white, while the article is decorated with stills from his famous movies.

Download your free copy and enjoy the whole interview!