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]

Here’s the just-out teaser trailer of Unnai Pol Oruvan, the remake of A Wednesday! Check out the official Web-site too.

All the details provided by Kamal earlier are confirmed in the teaser. Additionally, the rumours of his elder daughter, Shruti Haasan doing the music are proven to be true. The title clears the confusion created by the media linking this remake with Thalaivan Irukkindraan (which didn’t suit one bit).

Kamal does look simple in the trailer. The challenge will be to carry it on throughout the movie. The music seems suitable and I guess it’s Shruti’s high pitch vocals that are featured.

The title is very apt and reminiscent of Ennai Pol Oruvan, featuring Kamal’s favourite Sivaji Ganesan.

More analysis to come later…

[With inputs from Ananth]

[Video 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]

Media is hungry for news and movies, especially the small ones, are cashing in. While it may seem like information overload for us, we don’t complain when Kamal is involved!

The latest example are photos and accompanying news of Kamal being invited for the audio launch of Pasanga, produced by Sasikumar of Subramaniapuram fame. During the function on March 25, Kamal will receive the CD from Carnatic music great Balamuralikrishna, while also releasing the trailer.

Along with Sasikumar, we can also see Pandiraj, the director, and James Vasanthan, the music director, in these photos.

More photos are at Behindwoods, IndiaGlitz, Chennai365 and Galatta.com. Read reports from Sify.com, Behindwoods and KollywoodToday.com.

[With inputs from Ananth]

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]

On February 21, Kamal launched Siripoli, the sister channel of Kalaignar TV that focusses on comedy. While he casually joined singers on the stage with his “Panneer pushpangale…” (Aval Appadithaan), he was serious while rejecting the term ‘Kollywood’ during his speech.

The event received coverage from Sify.com (photos), Thatstamil, Galatta.com (photos) and Dinathanthi.

[With inputs from Ananth]

Kamal Haasan, as we know, is versatility on his own credit — whatever the role or genre, he excels to our great delight. Comedy is a hallmark of Kamal and he proves that apart from drama and action, he can be a superb comedian. Mumbai Xpress is a great example of his innovative talent. Although the film has relatively sunk into obscurity, since it box-office-bombed back in 2005, it is nevertheless a hilarious movie. If you feel that the storyline is a bit incoherent, it is still worthwhile viewing, since our star is in the leading role.

Mumbai Xpress starts off with a master plan conceived by three amateur criminals, who plan to kidnap a wealthy man’s son for ransom. However, one of the thieves falls seriously ill, and it is left to the rest to scout for a replacement. That replacement comes in the form of a deaf stuntman named Avinasi aka “Mumbai Xpress”, played by Kamal Haasan. The master plan that was ingenious in its nature turns horribly wrong when two of the criminals get injured, and a third person (an insurance agent), is roped into the crime by a unfortunate accident. When the thieves capture the wrong boy, it is left to Avinasi to rescue him from his accomplices and restore him to his mother, played by Manisha Koirala. What happens next is what forms the rest of the story, with many twists and turns occurring here and there, that makes the story all the more complicated and comical.

A few examples of where the plan goes terribly wrong are very original and brilliant — when one of the criminals tries to explain to Avinasi the master plan, it seems like he has listened to the entire discourse, only for all to find out later on that he forgot to put on his hearing aid, and also when the gang-leader endeavours to show Avinasi the car gear mechanism, he accidently switches to ‘drive’ immediately and the vehicle speeds up and hits an insurance agent! Mix-ups and goof-ups like these make the film an absolute entertainer, and it’s a pity that the film didn’t do well at the box-Office, when such films like Rajnikanth’s Chandramukhi and Vikram’s Anniyan were garnering the limelight. Mumbai Xpress definitely goes on the shelf as one of the great comedies that Kamal has ever done, and one should seriously view the film on its own merits.

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]

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]

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]

With no confirmation on the remake of A Wednesday or any other project, confusion reigns supreme, especially regarding the former.

UTV, which owns the rights for the movie, is in trouble. Kiran Koneru of Shreya Films has sued them claiming that they promised the Telugu and Tamil rights to him, but backtracked and sold it to Kamal. UTV responded by saying that they haven’t sold the rights to anyone. (An interesting aside is that JD Chakravarthy, assigned to direct the remakes, is an ardent fan of Kamal.)

On the other hand, the media has been reporting with great conviction that Mammootty was first asked to co-star but later Kamal settled on Mohanlal. Read reports from The Hindu, OneIndia (1 | 2 | 3), Sify.com, MSN, Webdunia, Vannathirai, IndiaGlitz, Behindwoods and KollywoodToday.com. As you read these, you will also see that some of them speculate that Thalaivan Irukkindraan is the name of the re-make!

Amidst this, fans direct prayers towards their ‘Aandavar‘, awaiting an announcement.

[With inputs from Ananth]

With fans awaiting impatiently for some kind of announcement about his next movie, Kamal has made a short and ’secret’ trip to USA / Dubai. The Hindu spotted him in New York standing in a queue at the Apple Store, awaiting his turn at the Genius Bar! Also, some fans sighted him at the Dubai aiport.

No details have emerged; so, it’s not clear what the purpose of his visit was. His visits to USA have always been regarding movie-related work. His stop at Dubai could have been part of transit though. But there was a rumour few months ago about a felicitation programme there. If we find out more, you’ll find it right here on this blog.

[With inputs from Ananth]