CV Sridhar, one of the directorial greats of Tamil movies, passed away on October 20. Kamal was among those who paid his last respects. Check out photos at IndiaGlitz and Behindwoods.

Sridhar directed Kamal, along with Rajnikanth, in the hit Illamai Oonjalaadugiradhu. He was also behind the nothing-great Naanum Oru Thozhilaali. Kamal recounted his experiences with the man, mentioning that, at 25, he was even offered to direct a movie for Sridhar’s production house, Chitralaya!

Also, Kamal’s close associate, Santhana Bharathi, apprenticed under Sridhar.

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]

Anbe Sivam is hailed as a classic by many today, though it didn’t receive sufficient appreciation at the box-office in 2003. Kamal chose to hold a preview screening for SAHMAT (Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust). Kamal declared that the inspiration for his character was Safdar Hashmi, a street-theatre artiste who was brutally murdered in 1989. (Interestingly, Hashmi was born in the same year as Kamal.)

At the screening in the Siri Fort Auditorium in New Delhi, Kamal spoke about communism and his opposition to globalization among other things. Learn more from the report on the CPI(M)’s Web-site.

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]

Dasavathaaram has had a dream run, with collections estimated to have crossed 300 crores of Rupees. Above is a recap, thanks to the efforts of Karthick of the Kamal Haasan Orkut community. The 100th day poster deserves a separate viewing though. Here goes, with thanks due to Balaji.

Click for larger image

Sify.com carried a report on the occasion, including a interesting tidbit. Kokila too released on the same day as Dasavathaaram in 1980 and had a 100-day run in Chennai. Check out the article for its poster.

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?

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.

As in many other places, Dasavathaaram has broken records in Srilanka too. After setting a record of 50 days in 10 theatres, it marches onto its 75th day.

It is important to note that the film business is different in the small island nation that is also torn apart by the Tamil Eelam conflict. This also has a direct effect as seen in the above newspaper ad (thanx to Mayooran and Karthick of Kamal Haasan Orkut community). The shows in Jaffna are scheduled before 6 p.m., the time at which curfew begins.

One would also remember that Kamal’s Guru had a record-breaking run in Srilanka in the early 80s.

Kamal has never openly talked about how the dwarf character of Appu in Apoorva Sagodharargal (Apoorva Sahodarulu / Appu Raja) was done. But now, Singeetham Sreenivasa Rao, the director, has revealed most of the ’secrets’, almost after 20 years.

Rao mentions special shoes, using a trench, masking technique and also artifical legs. He also throws light on the efforts put in by Kamal. Read the whole report from The Hindu.

Still, we await the short video on the making which Kamal had promised to release.

We have been hearing of Dasavathaaram setting various records around the world. But here’s some solid proof of the interest it generated worldwide, thanks to a fellow Kamal fan and blogger (maruthanayagam.blogspot.com). On the day of release, June 13, it was the 100th most searched item on Google! Google, of course, is the world’s favourite search engine. This site provides statistics for USA (and possibly some other parts of the world too).

Even on Google’s India site, Dasavathaaram dominated the day. Of course, it’s sad to see search terms like “dasavatharam movie download”.

Not much information has come in since the last post on Marmayogi, especially the authentic kind.

There has been some talk of the music by AR Rahman. In a function felicitating him, we heard that Kamal sent in a video message. With South Africa, Switzerland, Latin American music and a story set in the 7th century in the mix, Kamal and/or the media keep our heads spinning.

Also, Kamal had expressed his desire to have Amitabh Bachchan on board. The efforts don’t seem to have fructified yet.

Meanwhile, after pounding us for long with Kajol, there was a brief flutter caused by the media throwing up the name of Shriya Saran. Finally, it seemed like a rumour circulated by the lady herself for the sake of publicity.

[With inputs from Ananth]

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]

Post-release, Kamal visited Hyderabad and Kochi to meet the press and promote Dasavathaaram. Accompanied by KS Ravikumar at both locations, Kamal provided interesting insights.

IndiaGlitz reported in text and video formats on the Hyderabad event. Watch the long video to enjoy Kamal’s answers to several questions from the media. Chennai 365 covered the meet, wonderfully capturing an array of his expressions in the form of photos. Rediff.com, Sify.com, TeluguCinema.com and Behindwoods carried some of the highlights of the Q&A. Sitting in the Taj Krishna hotel, Kamal declared that Dasavathaaram had received the biggest opening in his career.

At Kochi, Kamal revealed that the incident in MGR’s life was an inspiration for Avtaar Singh getting cancerous cells removed by a bullet shot in Dasavathaaram. Read reports from The Hindu, The New Indian Express and IndiaGlitz.

[With inputs form Ananth]