Kamal Hasan – Can he act now in an Ordinary role?
Being avid admirer of Kamal and being follower of his films (mostly dubbed in Hindi) I have observed this special trait developed lately in his acting behaviour since last few years that its difficult for him to do an ordinary role. Or say he has developed two faced actor inside him. He is brilliant when he is in a get up based role and playing a challenging role and gives hints about his genius but he looks very ordinary actor when he plays a role of ordinary shades.
If its not iconoclastic to say that he just cant act as The Kamal Hasan if he is not given special get up. For example he was so good in role of an old warrior Father in Hindustani but in same film he was very ordinary in his second role of son. He was just brilliant in Laxmi Bai’s role in Chachi 420 but it was difficult to praise him in second role where he was not having any special makeup. Hey Ram might have subtle layers in the plot and presentation but his own acting was not up to the level for which Kamal is known. And in Mumbai Express he was perhaps less authentic than Vijay Raaj, Dinesh Lamba and Pratima Kazmi, they were far better than him in their performances. His facial muscles dont deliver and his face look like plane face of Sylvestor Stellon though later had that because of paralysis.
Time was there when he could bring any emotion on screen just through his eyes or facial expression and he was needed even dialogues like he did in Pushpak, but if he is shown with clean shaven face then so many times his face is expression less. He was charged last time only in Abhay, that too in role of a bad guy. Has he developed this syndrome where he needs very challenging role and get up to act at his previous standard level?
Can he do simple roles with equal energies he did in the past in Geeraftar, Sagar etc? or get up based roles like Velu Nayakan, Chachi 420, Hindustani, Appu Raja etc have changed him forever? He looks tired in ordinary roles.
Will his new film where he is said to play 10 different historical characters bring back Vintage Kamal?
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Well, I’ve liked him in the “ordinary” roles that you’ve mentioned – Indian, Avvai Shanmughi. In fact, in some cases, I’ve liked the “foil” role more than the “getup” role!
He hardly had a challenging role in Mumbai Xpress. I thought Vijay Raaz (Pasupathy, in Tamil) had the author-backed role in the film and the film itself went downhill once that role got short shrift in the second half. (And where did Nikhat Kazmi surface in Mumbai Xpress?!)
That said, I myself am a bigger fan of Kamal Haasan the filmmaker than Kamal Haasan the actor.
RK: I don’t know if you can ever classify his roles as “ordinary”.
Has he developed this syndrome where he needs very challenging role and get up to act at his previous standard level?
Well, isn’t that true of any intelligent actor/film-maker after a certain point? Everyone tries to go one better on their previous attempts. As Zero said, I also look forward to Kamal the auteur than Kamal the artiste.
I think Kamal is very well read and it is impossible to satisfy him unless the effort is intelligent. Surely every other movie of his is a brainless laugh riot. You won’t get to see them dubbed into Hindi since they are very localized and would lose their charm. But even that trend is explained intelligently by Kamal when he says that he does these films to raise money for his experiments!
Mumbai Express was a potential Guna (in terms of his performance), the Tam movie he made in 1991-92, where he played a mentally challenged man obsessed with the Godess – a very poignant movie that bombed in the face of competition from the Mani Ratnam directed Rajini starrer Dalapathi.
But Mumbai Express lost it. He looked jaded, old almost. Manisha looked jaded too, but I think that was intentional. The other actors were exemplary, but those are not the faces the audience (at least the Tam audience) wants to watch.
His newest venture cannot be off the mark though. A smart director who usually delivers a entertainer everytime (K.S.Ravikumar) and the promise of comedy (not dark like Mumbai Express) gives me confidence.
@Rk ,
i can understand what you feel …. you just feel it that way because when two different characters are showcased and when one s scope is more than the other ….hence this feeling …..but see his latest flick “vettaiyaadu vilaiyaadu” ,it was a ordinary role and u ll know how well he has performed ……
i thought kamal was pretty average in VV.. and i also feel that gowtham felt the pressure of living up to “kaakha kaakha”.. you can see it in the repetitive “fancy” shots that he takes during the car-motorcycle chase.. one too many 360-revolving shots.. really annoyed me. getting back to kamal.. i’ll take a nayakan or anbe sivam any day.. simply amazing =D>
RK…Once a painter friend of mine explained me..it is very easy and catchy to paint the face of a person with certain striking traits in him..eg: squint eyes, broad eye-brows, crooked nose, huge lower lip…coz..those are the things which attarcts anyone watching them…i feel similar is the case with any actor…With you mentioning all his roles like Chachi 420, Hindustani, etc…there were two sides..one which had a special trait in them and one which doesnt..so, we tend to observe more of tht speciality than the ordinariness…i do not have even an iota of doubt in Kamal’s acting talent be it “Ordinary” or “Extra-ordinary”….Only thing is he is getting very self-indugent…once he comes out of that hub…we will see the same Kamal we have grown up admiring…
Striker: I think Gautham Menon’s eagerness as a fan of Kamal (which he admitted he was) overhelmed the director in him. IMHO, some of the shots were plain amatuerish, esspecially the songs (you could claim otherwise!). I believe that what I feel about Rajini is true for Kamal too. Get a director/screenplay that both trust/respect/believe, you find that both give their best. Case at point – Rajini’s restrained performance in Dalapathi as opposed to the over the top potrayals in other movies of the time. Similarly Kamal’s Nayagan/Pushpak/Kuruthipunal or even his slapstick comedy flicks are much better than VV.
OM: he is getting very self-indugent
I agree with that. To me that has been the sore-point in many of his recent movies. But when he produces most of his experiments, naturally, we have to expect some self indulgence. And he should just let his movies do the talking for him, which they do and would do very well. But he spoils it sometimes with his over-explanations which in a couple of cases have proved to be frankly contradictory.
I remember a Kamal story that an assistant who was on his sets told me. Accordingly, they were supposed to shoot a shot of Kamal opening a diary and he was supposed to open it to a certain page, I believe. In spite of protests from everyone, Kamal insisted that he open the diary and find that page naturally. he would not agree for invisible tape or any such device that would let him get to that page. They shot the whole day trying to get that one shot when the schedule was way behind. You call it self indulgence; you call it craziness or you call it genius – your choice. All I know is that I am a big fan of Kamal and also that I have not seen anything from him that I really like for a long long time.
RK: Though there are some points worth discussing in your post, I too feel that you’re handicapped by the amount of Kamal you’ve seen.
As silvojax mentioned, his latest, Vaettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu has him playing a fairly ordinary role. Of course, there are people like striker who think the restrained performance was no good.
OM put across my thoughts about his second ordinary role in a movie being grossly overshadowed by the main extraordinary role.
IMO, MX was an experiment. They tried to make fun out of serious situations, without too much of slapstick. He wasn’t supposed to be a traditional hero. The movie was even written by him.
Like Zero, I too look forward to Kamal the film-maker more than the actor. I feel his movies are to be seen as his creations, much like an author and his books. Putting his personal thoughts across can be termed as self-indulgence, yes.
In his next movie, Dasavatharam / Dashaavtar, I expect a whole lot of new get-ups plus his unconventional thoughts put across.
Hi,
I think one of the recent movies that you are forgetting is Virumaandi ( 2004 ) .. which was a both directed and acted by Kamal.
I thought that was the last movie in which Kamal was very good.
All of Ravikumar’s movies are pretty watchable if you don’t go in expecting a world class movie ..
Zero:
we the Hindi fans of Kamal Hasan have become fans of Kamal because of his acting and his film maker Avatar comes as secondary.
people belonging to the language in which Kamal makes his films, may judge him that way but for Hindi audience he is an actor first.
I hope Kamal himself wrote the story of Mumbai Express so he was knowing which role is suiting him and whats the length of the role. He is not naive in these things if in a kamal Hasan film, a new actor like Vijay Raaj, beats him in acting department then its disturbing thing for me. :(
Vijay Raaj is not an actor of Kamal Hasan’s calibre, it does not matter what length of role is given to them.
Sorry for mistake in citing proper name of the lady. Somehow I mixed her name with journo of TOI. well she is Pratima Kazmi, who played role of sister of Kamal Hasan in the film.
Anantha:
Ordinary means, role of a common man having no special get up or behaviour.
Who can doubt Kamal’s intelligentia and understanding about Cinema:)
This is true that Kamal needs challenging role to satisfy his personal acting hunger but having said that then he should wait for a role which put challenge before him. Recently he has been believing in quantity and not quality as he advised Aamir Khan and SRK that they should do more films as time is precious and once they reach a certain age then they will realise what he is saying. Perhaps he himself knows it.
What I wish to say is:
1) I am not sure if with today’s mental status he is able to do a role like Saif’s role in Hum Tum, though 15-20 years ago Kamal was competent.
2) take for example Sholay:
Perhaps he will be very energetic if he gets role of Thakur or Gabbar Singh. But I doubt he can do same justice to Jai or Veeru’s kind of roles now.
Point is he has become victim of “get up based roles”.
Like you people who belong to his language, I have not followed his entire filmography but do you feel confident about him that today he can come out with same kind of performance if he makes Pushpak again with same kind of make up on face?
Unless he enjoys a role while playing it how can his audience enjoy his performance?:(
Silvojax, Striker:
friends have yet to see this film which you are discussing.
Till now only few films I watched in original langauge, Nayakan, mahanadi and one more. else I have seen dubbed films only or his hindi films. Certainly dialogues in dubbed version cant bring the original flavour but facial expressions cant be changed with dubbing:)
OM: long before Chachi 420 or Hindustani, Kamal had won my attention and praise in Ek Duje ke liye, Sadma, Sagar, Geeraftar, Ek Nayee Paheli etc.
After EDKL, I watched his every single film came in Hindi. He was needing any special mask in Sagar, was playing a lover’s role who lose his love because the lady does not love him as lover but as a friend. What a brilliant performance Kamal gave there. If he raised the interest in him and his acting skill then blame goes on him. Why he was able to satisfy eyes of an audience and why not today, is the point.:)He must have matured in doing what he was doing and I must have matured in seeing his actions. we both grew with each other. Hope you get the equation:)
Vasu: thats interesting story.
Randramble: you are right. I have not watched all his films. But whatever I have watched till now, Recently I have started getting two kind of Kamals, I mentioned.I wait for his synchronisation in any kind of role which was prseent in his early years and now its missing.
Dhiraj: Will see this film, Virumaandi.
RK: Appreciate your elaborate responses. I don’t think we mean to point out your ignorance really.
Let me continue on MX itself. Personally, I don’t agree either that it’s a bad movie or that Kamal wasn’t good in it. It was an experiment. Kamal played a deaf and stupid (dumb) person; the latter especially was unlike a hero and unlike Kamal himself. The only heroic things shown in the movie were the stunts (which comes from his profession) and the affection towards the kid. Vijay Raaz (or Pasupathi in the Tamil version) was good for sure; but that seems to have overshadowed what Kamal did. Basically, people didn’t get what they expected.
randramble: I am searching actor in kamal and not hero as honestly for Hindi cinema he was always an actor and not super star or something like that where he has to play larger than life roles in that way only. For us Hindi cine lovers he is Sanjeev Kumar in South:)Sorry to fanatic lovers of Kamal who finds such similarities unpardonable.
he is not an ordinary actor..so obviously he cannot do ordinary roles or rather doesnt act well in those roles… what is the point if he does ordinary roles… there are already lot of mediocore performers out there … there is still some potential hidden that can be extracted from him.
once an interviewer asked mani ratnam “when he is going to direct kamal again(after nayagan)” ..well the answer from mani was “i dont have a script to direct him,i need a powerful script”
that’s what… kamal is just not getting good scripts nowadays….
Vineeth:
Point is – he has been doing role with ordinary shades but these roles dont show his that much involvement which he shows when he does a get up based role where he has something to put on his face!!!!
Natuarlly Mani Ratnam will work with Kamal when he has powerful script but powerful script does not always mean having roles requiring a disguised look. or do they:”>
eh.. he had his good scenes here ‘n there in VV, but overall an average performance.. nothing stood out. ’tis true, i loved his earlier stuff where he had no getup involved.. saagar, nayakan, EDKL, sadma, MMKR etc.. he has now grown out of those so his restrained performances look ‘tired’ more than anything, case in point VV and MX. but give him an anbe sivam, where he has a facial deformity and a limp, and watch him work his magic. needless to say, am really looking fwd to dasavatharam :D
@RK: Well, give Kamal a challenge and he always responds – whether it be with tonnes of makeup on, or not. Cases in point are Mahanadi, Thevar Magan, Anbae Sivam – complex roles where the actor in him excelled. Otherwise, as others have pointed out, its the filmmaker in him that comes to the fore – and its a fantastic filmmaker at that.
At this stage, give Kamal a role like what AB had in Black, or Mohanlal had in the fabulous Thanmatra, and he’d excel. Give him the same old song ‘n’ dance routine, or the routine hero-on-vendetta grind, and you can bet he’d sleepwalk thru the role (sorta like in VV where he was apt, but only just so, and it took a Gautam Menon to prop up the movie).
Ranjit:
Striker Perhaps has reached closer to the point which analyse Todays Kamal Hasan divided between two things: Role where he has no special get up and roles where he puts on a different get up and feel charged inside.
To put more clarity, say if someone goes him to remake Namkeen of Gulzar and gives him role which Sanjeev Kumar played then given Kamal’s present acting mentallity do you think he will excel in this role? Its not less challenging role if we talk about nuances of a truck driver. But if Kamal is given role, which Sanjeev Kumar played in Jani Dushman, where character is affected by a bad soul, then I think Kamal will feel energetic.
Question is, Has Kamal developed a syndrom where he is not comfortable playing roles with no make up on his face or say his face which we see in real life? Mahanadi etc are old case and we loved these films but I am talking about his last few years only. Do you think AB’s role in Black is extraordinary? or role is ordinary but he made it fantastic with his performance. Because in Black only unusual role is with Ayesha Kapoor the girl and Rani Mukherjee.
AB in Virudh, is better example to discuss. Will Kamal do it with full energy?
I am having high yearning to search possibility to contact Kamal Hasan somehow to ask this question directly from him. Any body helps here?Please:-?
@RK:
Have seen neither Namkeen nor Jani Dushman unfortunately (though the latter doesn’t sound all that great, to me at least!), so cannot put and speculate on Kamal in those roles. But Sanjeev Kumar is a fab, fab actor alright.
I sorta agree with you; Kamal is no longer enthusiastic about run-of-the-mill roles. Which is why even for something as simplistic as Thenali, he opts to make things more difficult for himself, by making the hero a Sri Lankan Tamilian (and he got the dialect spot-on). Its the makeup factor I don’t agree on – give Kamal something warped and twisted enough, and you bet he’ll go at with gusto, makeup or no makeup. Like some of you here, I too found Kamal strangely detached in some of his recent roles (and he was downright bad in the Munnabhai remake). I just don’t think its a makeup fixation, is all!
As for Black, I am one of the few who did not like what AB did in Black – at least the first half. He was unnecessarily loud and dramatic in the first half, though he did compensate somewhat in the second. IMO, somebody like Om, Naseer, Nana (or Kamal, of course) would have done a better job. AB in Virudh or Sarkar was far better – dunno if Kamal would do it with full energy, though – mabbe Sarkar, but not Virudh!
As a fan of KH from Hindi movie perspective I also have noticed that his ordinary roles in recent movies are not done with zest like the Chachi 420 stuff. I remember watchin his Zarasi Zindagi and was totally bolwed by his acting. This might be due to less number of Hindi movies he does or the lack of interest in them. After all the Bollywood generation has not yet accepted KH on the same level as SRK or Sanjay Dutt. That has always been a handicap for KH & looks like it is gonna stay forever.
my cents – Kamal’s relatively recent “Virumandi” was awesome for his performance – just one scene, where he enters a hut, and his facial expression changes from laidback, to puzzlement, to shock and then to helplessness and then anger – all within a frame of say, 10-15 seconds, in one single shot!! now thats acting for you!
Enigmatic – one of the strongesr reasons I was let down by ‘Virumandi’ was Kamal’s performance. He sparkled as a director, derived some great (Pasupathy, Abhirami) and several good (Rohini) performances, but felt that the actor Kamal took a backseat. Somebody younger, like maybe Vikram or Surya, might have been more interesting in that role – of course, with Kamal directing!
Ranjit – I disagree with you – IMO, the only sore point in Virumandi was the excesses between Kamal and Abiramy – could have been more subtle – perhaps the character and the script demanded, but still….