Kamal Haasan’s latest, Uttama Villain, delves into stardom and its mortality. The legendary actor tells Karan Bhardwaj that he never took himself seriously and that helped him in pushing the envelope
Meeting legendary actor Kamal Haasan could be a revelation. The 60-year-old superstar is full of lessons and is not shy to share them. His humility and simplicity, for a minute, will shock you but that’s the biggest asset he possesses. He defies stardom but strives for excellence in his performances. Despite being one of the most popular and talented actors of the Indian film industry, he doesn’t take himself seriously. His strength comes from the fact that he wants to be one among us. That’s perhaps why we could extract his candid comments on life, career and controversies that often surround his movies. Here in town to open his retrospective at India Habitat Centre’s ongoing film festival, he spared some time with us. He explained his evolution as an artiste and why Hindi cinema is not classified as ‘world cinema’.
India Habitat Centre has organised a retrospective on your work. What do you see when you look backIJ
There were stars and actors who have been bigger than me and they all have seen life before cinema, that is struggle, sufferings and training. But I opened my eyes straight into cinema. I started working in movies when I was barely three and a half. So all that I know and understand about life and the world is through cinema. I don’t know whether it is right way to learn about the world but I have no complains. Fortunately, I have been a film buff too. It rarely happens. It’s like I am living on the mountains and I love them, too. When I look at my life, I think it is the most charmed life one could imagine. I would have thought of an impractical life but never a believable scenario where sweat, hard work and success go together. I have known people who burnt midnight oil but the return that they got was dismal. I have been lucky to meet the best of gurus who helped me obtain a meaningful perspective about life and work, and how to constantly challenge my capabilities. If I try to replicate that era for my daughters now, I won’t be able to afford it with all the money I have. But it all just happened with me.
You used the power of cinema responsibly by playing diverse characters that touched social chords at many levels. When did you realise that you were actually making a strong social commentary through most of your filmsIJ
I realised the strength of the medium much later in my life. As a teenager, I was intrigued by the charm, intricacies and technicalities of cinema. I had an open playground for me to try out anything and everything. At one time, I thought I had no opportunities and I was just cribbing. But coming to think of it, I have hit on all the right pegs, meeting right kind of people and doing right kind of jobs, without even knowing that I was doing it. Today, I am grateful for having landed myself in those jobs. like I was an assistant choreographer. So I got to set up shots. It initially gave me an understanding of mechanics of movie sets. And the process of learning is never-ending.
You also donned many hats of being a musician, screenplay writer, producer and director. But you took writing quite seriously.
I became a writer by need. I had to save myself. Scripts were not getting better. The good writers, who were limited in number, were busy writing for others. So out of requirement, I went into writing. It became an additional profession for me. Now that I have written 25 movies, it seems like a huge learning. In fact, sometimes unlearning one job and getting into another seems like a more difficult job.
Your latest movie, Uttama Villain, deals with super stardom and mortality. What is your take on stardomIJ
For me, stardom is something that I didn’t work hard at all for. My stardom thrived in spite of my neglect. I have never been careful of doing certain things because I am a star. I have always challenged that position. I was never comfortable being a star. My position got stronger by experiments that I attempted. It’s a risky game but I played it the right way.
Despite being a mass hero, you broke the mould with every film. How did you manage to remain people’s star by challenging the conventional formats of storytellingIJ
I achieved that by simply being a member of the audience rather than believing in my own press. I became Kamal Haasan’s fan as well as critic. Being critical and admirer of your own work is like two sides of the same coin. Who else can be more loving and judgmental about your work than youIJ So I have always taken it with a pinch of salt. I have never taken stardom too seriously; never I have arrogated myself to call myself a star. I have never ducked people for questioning me just because I was full of myself.
Where did it all come fromIJ
There are many factors. I have grown up watching bigger stars than me. I have seen human side of these actors. They were legends even as I met them. It was contra-indicative what you view of them from outside and what you find them in real life. I think I had my lessons on first-hand basis from these masters. Finally, they all aspired to be normal people. In their private moments, their greatest endeavour was to be simple people. Kailasam Balachander was the biggest influence in my life because he was my guru. Then, Sivaji Ganesan and Nagesh. They all influenced me not because I was close to them but they were truly great.
You have a knack of pulling up multiple characters in a single venture. How does that workIJ
I have had predecessors like Sanjeev Kumar, Sivaji and others who achieved that feat. The fact of the matter is that I had a lot of time before me to learn. For instance, everybody thought Ek Duuje Ke liye was my first film. It was my first Hindi film but in totality, it was my 101st movie. So ironically, it was a step to second century. Coming back to your question, I think my strength lied in storytelling. I was a reluctant actor. I was more interested in telling stories. Slowly I realised that people liked the way I was narrating the stories. So I started writing screenplays for most of the movies that I was acting in. Eighty per cent of the films that I did had my writing inputs. So for me, research and characterisation would begin even before the motion. There was also a time when I was doing only one film at a time. When I came to Hindi film industry, there was a trend of doing four to five movies together. Every big actor including Amit ji had their platter full with multiple projects. Actors would feel insecure if they were doing anything less than two movies. But I broke that mould 25 years ago. In 1985-86, I was doing one film at a time. That’s how I was able to do films like Mani Ratnam’s Nayagan or Pushpak.
Today, young film-makers have blurred the line between offbeat and mainstream cinema. How do you look at the new wave of cinemaIJ
I’m glad that distinction between offbeat and commercial cinema is fading today. For me, every movie is art. And art that sells tickets is commercial cinema. The change is happening slowly but we are moving in the right direction. Young film-makers are not listening to trade pundits and take less interest in money bags. I saw Highway recently. I liked the way it was made. Their approach was modern and it had certain traditional values of good cinema. I’m happy that such movies are being made.
Your movies like Hey Ram, Thevar Magan and Swati Mutyamhave achieved prestigious awards abroad. But world is yet to acknowledge Indian cinema. What do we lackIJ
Our movies are made just for a day. They have to finish for that evening. They don’t have shelf life, exactly like fast food. But that’s changing now because film-makers want their movies to live longer. What’s holding us back is mismanaged commerce. You cannot just make a movie for one state or region. Time has come when we use what is considered to be urbane as our strength. let’s confess that this is an English speaking country. If we understand that, then we will have a very powerful tool to talk to the world. English has conveniently over the time has become mode of the communication in India. There’s nothing to be ashamed of that. There’s no need to be parochial about it. We can be parochial about Tamil, Hindi or Telugu. China today is trying to learn English and we are ahead of them for 100 years. So better we realise that and inculcate it in our cinema.
What kind of impact would censorship and impositions on free speech have on the next generationIJ
The next generation will not be as kind as we are to these moral policing. They will just knock their hats off and march on. I can already see it happening. The only thing is that we cannot be complacent or arrogant about these impediments to freedom of speech. We can be right but when demand that right to speak, we must own up to the responsibility that we have. Freedom of speech is not just any expletive at any corner or at any assembly that we decide. That’s juvenile. I would say that I am responsible and leave that responsibility with me.
Your movies, too, face harsh reactions by certain sections of society. How much does that bother youIJ
That’s what I said. I’m ready to own up responsibility for what I create. If not at 60, then when do you expect me to become responsible for what I doIJ As far as controversies go, they don’t matter to me because they are silly. I would rather have come discerning and deserving adversaries. Some people are just taking a free ticket ride on a profile that they think is high. So I am not bothered about them.
Your daughters, Shruti and Akshara, are finding their footing in the industry. Do you interfere in their career decisionsIJ
Whatever Shruti has managed is only because of her own efforts. There’s no guidance from me. The only time I helped her was when she wanted to do music. So now if their choices come out wrong, only they will own them. I don’t like pulling wires for them. Shruti is very capable of managing herself. She is critically analysing herself which is good. We do have conversations but there are no planning sessions. Shruti tells me if she is troubled about her position and we discuss that. I particularly like the way she is not happy with all the success that comes her way. She wants to do more in terms of excellence. I think somewhere it is kicking in them.
photo Pankaj Kumar