Here’s a brilliant new poem from Kamal, that appears as the first one in a collection titled “Eezham — Mounathin Vali“. Thanks to Envazhi for bringing it to us!
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.
It is a known fact that Kamal has a lot of friends in the literary circles. He has used many of them in his movies from Mahanadhi to Marudhanayagam. Recently, he took the time to felicitate one such person, Puviarasu the poet, for winning the Sahitya Akademi award.
During his speech, he spoke of his association with Puviarsu and various others. He also read out one of his poems, which is reproduced below, thanks to Behindwoods.
Bharathiraja is back with Bommalaattam, after yet another hiatus. Kamal and others participated in the audio release function. Here are some photos.
Seen in the above photo are Panchu Arunachalam, Bharathiraja, K Balachander, Illaiyaraaja, Kamal and Arjun (L to R).
Kamal and Bharathiraja go back a long way, of course. Bharathiraja provided the opportunity for Kamal to experiment in 16 Vayadhinile and Sigappu Rojakkal.
Rasi Azhagappan speaks about Kamal, Mayyam and more. Rasi had worked with Kamal Haasan as an assistant director in Raajkamal films like Apoorva Sagodharargal, Michael Madana Kamarajan, Magalir Mattum, Thevar Magan and Virumaandi. Being part of the Raajkamal ‘circle’, he was also involved in story discussions. Before working as the editor of Mayyam magazine (brought out by Kamal fans’ association), he also served an assistant editor for the Thaai magazine. He has released several poem collections and also directed a movie.
In the article, among other things, he speaks about how Kamal has always wanted his fans to broaden their knowledge and tastes beyong cinema, to literature, politics and general awareness.
Rasi also talks about a couple of poems written by Kamal — the first, shortly after his daughter Shruthi’s birth (a typically hard-hitting one, questioning the dogma of religion and superstition) and the second letter, written at a later period for Shruthi.
Excerpts from the first one:
சுதந்திர(மான) கவிதை
மன்னன் சொல் கேளா
மக்களை வழி திருப்ப
மதம் என்று சொல்லி வைத்த
மார்க்கமெல்லாம் எந்தனுக்கு
பொருந்துமோ அம்மா?
Rasi also reveals that the ’seed’ of Marudhanayagam was planted during the photo session for the cover of one of the issues of Mayyam magazine.
Read on (in Tamil) and enjoy some memorable photos too…
[Editor’s Note: Bala (Karthik) — he prefers to be called by either name — debuts as a contributor to this blog with this post! Please welcome…]
Kamal’s poem recently appeared in the Tamil magazine Ananda Vikatan — guess it will be available through vikatan.com too. It was reproduced in a couple of places.
The poem seems to have political undertones. If someone has a good explanation, please post it as a comment here.
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