Kamal
is the man who made me think. I believe
that I should have been impressed by him
in the same vein even if I would have
been exposed to movies across the globe.
I should admit that he played a major
role in helping me to adapt to a persona
and living that I chose and comfortable
with. I wish him long years and good health
to make more meaningful movies, eradicating
his little sense of establishing/displaying
what he is and what he can do, in his
movies going forward.
It
would need guts for anyone to comment
about Kamal. Either he would be an intellectual
who is exposed and seen every corner of
life or an idiot who knew nothing about
anything. ‘Displaying courage is
nothing but pretending to be fearless’,
a classic dialogue of his own sum it here.
Right from my childhood days, I have always
come across those who love to talk against
Kamal Haasan, pointing to his mistakes
(?!) in his movies and as well as personal
life. They derive what is called as ‘Unfound
happiness’ to argue about a man
who started to think and act differently
from others. They were getting trapped
in the tag of ‘Idiots’ trying
to showcase themselves as ‘Intellectuals’.
Each and every act of his was under criticism.
Amidst these ruthless people who hate
anyone for being honest and frank, Kamal
continued to be honest about his personal
life and limited in his movies, barring
adapting movies from the west. He is someone
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
who will accept the fact that he is not human but
trying to be so. The line between so called human
and a criminal is very thin. It’s Opportunities.
His colleagues chose an easy way of only making movies
with 5 fights, 3 duets, one kuthu/club song with any
glamorous item girl and one song about either appa,
amma or the society, only to concrete their earnings
and ending up in celebrating themselves. Kamal rode
on two different genre of movies, one in the same
way as his colleagues (still differentiating himself)
and the other to help him to get to the league of
making his own movies in the future. This helped him
to win considerable amount of masala fans who were
slowly guided to the other path by himself. He is
now in a state to make only movies of his own genre
and his fans cannot even withstand any movie of his
own, made only for a commercial purpose. What a transition
it is! To my limited knowledge, I haven’t come
across any such actor who has influenced and brought
a change in taste of movies to his own fans, by his
own.
Last year 2009, I will remember only for Kamal as
he completed 50 years and the entire filmdom and media
coming together, celebrating it amidst big fanfare.
He has achieved an unimaginable status now amidst
the film world and his own colleagues, who were once
celebrated for their success, watch him with awe and
definitely with envy too. His friend and foe on field
Rajinikanth was quick to accept the fact that Kamal
chose the way that was less travelled. His speech
on Kamal-50 in Vijay TV was apt and of course, Rajinikanth
proved his greatness by being frank and open.
Passion and Striving for Excellence. I think these
two qualities would complete the personification of
Kamal. I still cherish the definition that Kamal gave
to differentiate between Perfection and Excellence
when he was questioned about being called as a ‘perfectionist’.
Trust me, this definition is only known to Mechanical
Engineers or who did their basics in Mechanical engineering.
Attention to detail, unlimited passion, disciplined
approach towards completion of tasks etc. are the
traits that influenced me to admire and adore him.
Although there are many professionals to be adored,
I chose as he is the one who fits all these labels
in the industry which has trapped one & all of
this country, “Cinema”.
Kamal has also changed a lot, what he would correct
if he reads this article as ‘refined’.
I could see him turning more and more humble than
ever before. He is still frank and open in his comments
but with mastering the act of ‘coating’
with honey. He chose the right way to silence his
critics, ‘work hard and do not respond’.
I would pray God to make him feel always young and
provide us with the best, which is yet to come.
I know that this is an article that I would keep on
upgrading and updating till my end of life.
Ramakrishnan Parthasarathy (Ram)
ramsarathi@gmail.com
|
