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The Rise and Fall and Fall of Kamal Hassan
1987. After reading the article of a new Kamal Hasan movie that was making waves in the media, I had locked myself in the room and went through all the movie’s images that were printed in the article. There was an old Kamal Hasan in a never before seen getup and makeup that really made him look, “realistically” old. The young Kamal Hasan about to fold his handkerchief as he walked on the streets of Bombay. Another one where an old Kamal Hasan was involved in an intense scene with a younger actress. I was enchanted. Enthralled. I did not know yet what the story was. Just that it was a movie based on Vardarajan Mudaliar, a Mumbai based mafia cum smuggler, who I don’t remember if he was still alive at the time.
I slowly started imagining what the story might be and started acting Kamal’s part out in front of the mirror. Such was the impact of a two page article, not cause it was well written (which it was) but because of the passion and intense desire to go out and watch that movie. Unfortunately, in 1987, Tamil movies hardly came to Bombay. As it was, it was the worst phase for Hindi movie goers… content and quality were going down the drain, theaters were closing down making way for shopping malls and whatever.
The movie was Nayakan. I got to watch the dubbed version of it around 10 years later. After having gone through the torture of watching its remake (Dayavan).
In all those years I ended up watching each and every Kamal movie that got released. Never mind if it was in Tamil, Malayalam or Hindi. From Mayor Saab, to Pushpak, to Michael Madan Kamarajan, to Appu Raja, to Mahanadhi (my favorite of all Kamal movies), to Guna, to Thevar Magan, to Sathi Leelavathi, to Kuruthipunal (mixed feelings but I liked Drohkaal better). It did not help that my roommate in college was a Tamil. A movie fan. And to top it all, he came from a family of film financiers. Ho Gaya Kalyan (Hinglish: Done Went Kalyan).
And then it happened. Right after Chachi 420. His Hindi remake of his own original Tamil movie. Shantanu Sheroy was supposed to direct it. He was shown the exit a few days into the shoot. Kamal took over as the director. The movie got made, was released and was quite successful.
And that was the last of Kamal Hasan. The one who’s Nayakan role I had enacted in front of the mirror. Except for a couple of films like Virumandi or even Anbe Sivam (I thought the trying to extract pity for his character was a bit too much). While Vettaiyadu Villaiyadu and Vasoolraja M.B.B.S showed the man had put the brakes on his creative process and approach… completely.
What was going wrong?
Perhaps too much of “I ME MYSELF”. Dipping into the dreaded pool of SELF INDULGENCE. Hey Ram, for me, was a big red flag. He was falling in the trap. Abhay confirmed it. Mumbai Express stamped it. And Dasavatharam has delivered the coffin to the grave.
In the first 30 minutes of Dasavatharam, you have a strong question to ask Kamal. You wanna scream and ask him this. Why in the world was it necessary for him to play a white Caucasian male? In the next 30 minutes another question. Why the hell was he playing a Japanese?
The questions did not arise because it may have been looking a bit implausible for the eyes and brains. The questions arose BECAUSE IT FUCKING WAS LOOKING IMPLAUSIBLE AND INDIGESTIBLE. Here was Kamal as a white guy wearing a synthetic mask and it looked just that. A mask. Ditto for the Japanese character played by him.
WHY WOULD ONE WANT TO WATCH A MOVIE WHERE CHARACTERS WEARING RUBBER MASKS TALK TO CHARACTERS WEARING RUBBER MASKS? WHAT IS THE POINT? I would rather watch the dumb puppet show if I had this urge to watch rubber talking to rubber.
What was this experiment all about? Was it an experiment in the first place or was it - SELF INDULGENCE?
Clearly someone should have taken the responsibility to tell him, during the making of the movie “Kamal this is not working”… and Kamal Hasan did not listen. Or perhaps no one told him that. After all he’s the great Kamal Hasan, one of the or may I dare say the finest of actors India has produced in the last three decades.
Breaking News.
Not anymore. For over ten years, you’ve kept forgiving his mistakes, experiments which clearly run on the “I ME MYSELF ALWAYS RIGHT” syndrome.
Sorry Kamal, but I can’t take this anymore. You’ve become, in my view, a self obsessed man who wants to see himself in each and every frame of the movie trying to do all the various never done before acting yoga postures; story film script be damned.
I mean what do the directors actually do these days on his sets? Work as assistant directors to Kamal’s direction?
What does this mean?
Death of an Actor.
And that is tragic. Here was one actor who in the “fraction of a second” could convey the emotion shooting right at your heart, in the slightest of motion. The look (oh man that look) he gives to his mother in Appu Raja after his heart is broken, the battling for survival as he hangs himself in the next shot in the same movie, the slight pointing of fingers (to depict a gun) as he struggles for catching his breath, asking his associate to shoot him in Kuruthipunal, the look (that look again, I tell ya is a million bucks) through his glasses in Anbe Sivam, the breaking down in spurts scene in Mahanadhi… volumes of such instances, scenes that I’m sure you have & treasure and which have stuck to you for years.
So is there hope?
Unfortunately I don’t think so. At an age past 50, having achieved all the stardom and regaled and worshipped, it’s a bit late and hard to step out of temple of vanity where he has all the power and looked upon as God. Only a director who’s as powerful as he is or is strong and dead bent on having his own way shall be able to give Kamal what he has long lost.
A memorable performance. And above all. A memorable movie.
30 Responses to “The Rise and Fall and Fall of Kamal Hassan”
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i was tempted to articulate with profanity exactly as you have, but i couldn’t, since mine was an open letter to him.. but with this…
WHY WOULD ONE WANT TO WATCH A MOVIE WHERE CHARACTERS WEARING RUBBER MASKS TALK TO CHARACTERS WEARING RUBBER MASKS?
…you nailed it sirji.
i’ll rest my last hopes on marudhanayagam…
wow OZ…..First Things First….wow POST
Well what was more enchanting was his association with K Balachandar.Meendum Kokila.Avargal..Aval Apudi Than (KK remember we were discussing this a couple of weeks ago)..to name a few..which made Kamal…the Acting Khuda we know of today…those were the days which truly molded this chameleon which he is….Nayakan came much later and made him a part of Indian Cinema folklore….it’s sad. almost depressing to see this…and to come at a screeching halt with this megalomaniacal blunder….of 10 avtaras….GIMICKS has become the bane of HIS KAMALNESS…there lies buried the last of the Thespians….AMEN
Oz: I don’t agree with parts of your post. His masala brand seems to be falling flat on its face, mostly because of his penchant to try to put the movies on his back. However, in contrast, his own directorial efforts (including Hey Ram) come across as very sincere attempts to tell his own viewpoint. And his choice of star cast for his own directing has seemed to be very good with the like of Atul Kulkarni, Pasupati, Abhirami etc. getting meaty roles and excelling at them. So is that his mistake, i.e. trying to carry off movies on his own?
Also the Michael Westmore makeup collaboration is looking like a one trick pony with every successive attempt. While Chachi 420 was a novel indulgence, starting with Indian, it has become progressively hideous.
Btw about Nayagan, Varadaraja Mudaliar was alive when they were filming Nayakan. In a recent Rediff interview, Mani Ratnam talks about meeting Mudaliar and the fact that he liked Nayagan.
Striker: Marmayogi is his next offering. He’s supposed to direct it (with music by ARR) and Walt Disney has stepped in to produce it. Marudhanayagam is looking more and more impossible as people (read desi financiers) will surely look at him with trepidation after each exercise in feeding his own ego. I think the only way is to get a corporate entity to fund it as a pure business venture.
[...] April 2008 (268) The Rise and Fall and Fall of Kamal Hassan His Hindi remake of his own original Tamil movie. Shantanu Sheroy was supposed to direct it. He was shown to exit a few days into the shoot. Kamal took over as the director. The movie got made, was released and was quite successful. … Click here for complete story [...]
anantha, thx for the clarification. haven’t read much about marmayogi except kajol’s being offered the lead opposite kamal, but had watched some footage of marudhanayagam on youtube, which made me anticipate its release.. so am still hoping that it comes out.
anantha - agree….efforts like Virumandi, Anbe Sivam and Hey Ram….but why this one up effort on Rajni like Dasavatharam….why not just stick to a Pammal K Sambandham or Panchatantiram….and draw in the commercial dough….Marudanayagan…..60 crs. money well spent….why the hell is Kamal jiving to a bhangra beat for that amount….he might as well take the film ahead from the first 10 minutes and made a historical…
“Kal Tak Mujhko Gaurav Tha
Main Devtaaon Ki Hoon Santan
Aaj Magar Hoon Aadha Jaanwar
Aaj Hoon Mein Aadha Insaan
Kal Tak Meri Dhadkan
Dhadkan Jeevan Raag Sunati Thi
Lekin Aaj Hai Mere Ang Ang Mein
Jaise Thanda Ek Shamshaan”
- Abhay
Oz bhai!!
A new league of rule breaking actors are in need and we hope that the Suryas, Karthees, Aryas and narains will take the lead and march on.
As far as Kamal - Clint eastwood has shown the way. I hope he walks on the road.
Vasan Bala: I think gimmicks have ALWAYS been a part of Kamal since he graduated from the KB school. His physical contortions for Appu Raja was a gimmick. The 4 characters of MMKR was a gimmick. The feminine attire for Chachi 420 was a gimmick too. I could go on and on. But the thing is, in most these other movies, the supporting cast was no less stellar. In contrast, Dasavataram has him, him again, him once more and so on. And rest are novices. Asin? Mallika? Who else? Napolean? Bleh!
Oz: Btw, as with Rajini fans (yours truly included), Kamal’s own fan following gets defensive when questioned. An year after Sivaji, it has become “us vs them” all over again. Funnily, the script for these arguments are all the same. Check out comments on Desipundit for a review post from another blog. Big time Rediff forum type stupidity happening!
Vasan: Dasavataram was another along the same lines as Panchatantram and PKS, if you were to go by the arguments put forth by the Kamal sycophants. But I don’t agree with that. The mantra with PKS type movies is very simple - more returns with less investment. Not this one, though and so I think your comment about him going the Rajini way is spot on (though obviously I don’t see anything wrong with it).
Gimmicks is all fine with us anantha.
Remember we have all relished Rajini’s antics and gimmicks equally compared to Kamal’s own. Both these artistes are continuously innovating on their looks, style to get the maximum applause from the paying public. However this latest gimmick has in all possible ways destroyed the very premise of an exciting script and that is when the self indulgence getting in the way of a good film. It is similar to piling garbage on one’s own good work. Why do that? Could have saved the gimmicks for a Singaravelan type of movie(I enjoyed that movie immensely though) and not for a movie that brags about Chaos theory and Butterfly effect - If Day After Tomorrow destroyed and defiled Climate change studies, this movie is a piss on Chaos theory and butterfly effect.
If the movie wanted to connect the dots, then the prosthetic monsters did not allow that to happen.
I still dont want to give-up on Kamal…i feel its his lean phase and sure that he will learn from all these…the guy has played virtually any or every character that a script writer can provide…and his thirst for more radical is still intact..with that thirst still alive i am sure he will bounce back..mistakes are a parcel…let us not write him off…
Gimmicks is all fine with us anantha.
Oh ya… Agreed totally. I am a Thalaivar fan, remember? And ya, that’s why the gimmicks put me off. They could have been left for a lesser movie. This one had potential. But then, having a masala director in the mix never bodes well for such subjects.
[...] Published on PFC 1987. After reading the article of a new Kamal Hasan movie that was making waves in the media, I had locked myself in the room and went through all the movie’s images that were printed in the article. There was an old Kamal Hasan in a never before seen getup and makeup that really made him look, “realistically” old. The young Kamal Hasan about to fold his handkerchief as he walked on the streets of Bombay. Another one where an old Kamal Hasan was involved in an intense scene with a younger actress. I was enchanted. Enthralled. I did not know yet what the story was. Just that it was a movie based on Vardarajan Mudaliar, a Mumbai based mafia cum smuggler, who I don’t remember if he was still alive at the time. [...]
its nt easy 2 write obit 4 kamal hasan like actor…he ll always give surprises…
Oz…I actually typed a long respone but on second thoughts I dont think your post merits any response.
A actor will make wrong decisions once in a while. If Kamal Hassan makes one self indulgent movie after that he will come out with gems (after Alavandhan he came up with Virumaandi,Anbe sivam where there was scope for other actors also) so there is no need of thrashing him. After dasavatharam there will be memorable gems.
@Oz i quote lines from my review “the day Kamal Haasan comes out of his narcissistic approach in his roles, his screenplay & his direction. that day would be the moment when he will take Indian Cinema to a position it has never been before”. i still believe in miracles.one film and we get our old kamal back. (shit, this last line sounds so filmy)
@Oz, i disagree in parts with this piece…
I sincerely think that we cant write off the man till he has that hunger for movies (which i think he has)…
Watch every one of his interviews… its about the movie (and of course, himself)… In the sense that i almost feel that he has an infinite thirst for making/writing/being a MAJOR part of a movie… Yes, he has problems… Yes he indulges A LOT… But, there is still A LOOOOOOOOOONG time, atleast for me, before we can write him off… In fact, i quite condone (or even possible like him) for his self-indulgence…
Of his past few movies, even i have disliked MBBS, Mumbai Express (have just seen 1st half of VV -which i liked).
I still love Anbesivam (acting as well as the story/script)…
I absoluuuuuuuuuuutely love Hey Ram… I thought Thenali and Abhay were fine… In fact i loved the characterisation/portrayal of Abhay (which i agree was, as implemented on screen, largely self-indulgent)
@Vasan, btw i really really like that song - Kal Tak Mujhko Gaurav Tha :)
and ya… Even i hope marudhanayagam gets made… Dont know the theme of marmayogi, but still lets hope for the best with it… Tho, i like the new look - with beard all over and all
Is Dasavatharam making money ?? ….coz in the end that’s what it ultimately boils down to in today’s world….
Hi everybody
I dont care what everybody talks about Kamal regarding his movies and his personal life….ACCORDINGLY TO ME HE IS THE BEST THIS COUNTRY HAS EVER PRODUCED, FURTHERMORE HE HAS WORKED HARD TO GIVE THRILL, PLEASURE, FUN, MELODRAMA TO ALL OF US A LITTLE LAPSE CAN ALWAYS BE OVERLOOKED AND I DONT CARE FOR ME HE IS THE BEST “I LOVE HIM”….”I LIKE HIM” AND ” I ADORE HIM”
GOOD WORK KAMAL
YOU JUST CARRY ON…
REGARDS
@ shiva…great buddy..everybody loves kamal…what are you stating here..have you read the article?
And i thought i was alone - great article. Having been his fan for over 2.5 decades i thought my facination with him would mature with age but alas like all organic things it only seems to stink with age !
My own ramblings @ http://senthlpk.blogspot.com/
“Dasavatharam - Kamal disappoints
Let’s get this straight – Kamal Hassan is a national treasure and KS Ravikumar is a very bad director.
Indian movies for most parts merely serve as a vehicles for hero worship – from the days of Bhagavathar to “Dr Illyathalapathi”. every decade has its favorite “hero-pair” be it MGR/Sivaji, Rajini/Kamal, Ajit/Vijay and so on. Our directors (with a few exceptions) are either slaves to these heros or mere puppet in their hands.
Kamal is a rarity – he is both an actor (national award winning I might add) and a director (some obscure Korean award for virumandi?). Anyone even remotely doubting his penchant for making movies has probably been sleeping under a rock for the last forty year – simply put he is a living legend who makes mistakes. What is additionally interesting with kamal is that he is a “known” rationalist and spiritually inquisitive – look no further than Anbe sivam for what I mean. This particular aspect is what draws this writer to “kamal films” – Nayagan, Thevar Magan, Guna, Pushpak, Anbe Sivam all stand tall in repertoire.
Kamal , post Indian has developed a fixation with makeups – probably from his drama routes. This fixation has only helped soar his reputation as a great actor – be it the atrociously simple Indian or the sweet Avvai Shanmugi (my favorite ). Alas “this” kamal seems to have gone overboard with his fascination resulting in disastrous consequence – namely his over hyped magnum opus “Dasavatharam”.
Now to the movie – with all the hype surrounding the film, the initial scenes captivate and glue you to your seats. It moves you deeply, leaves you with Goosebumps and makes you impatient while asking for more. Alas for most viewers the movie will start and end here, what follows after is probably the most contrived storyline one would have ever hatched together.
Kamal’s canvas is simply too large and too thin to paint and whatever happen on it leaves nothing but a-mess-of-a-film that’s scarred beyond recognition by its own auteur. Perhaps the giant who calls himself kamal has either taken up a task too big for him or was reined in by the more earthly commercial gimmicks – romance, comedy, fight, drama and yeah 10 different makeups !
The story is “simple” – its fate trying to connect the dots between people. Every action is inter connected and has a consequences. More importantly these actions have a meaning that’s all carefully put together by the master himself a.k.a the almighty. The people, as you would guess is kamal in 10 different roles criss-crossing each other in the most cinematic fashion. If “this” is how god planed, then he surely must suck at it!
The details – a biological weapon is out of the super secret labs in the US and reaches shores of India, following the “viral-bomb” is kamal the scientist, his boss sends out “terminator” kamal to wipe him out and retrieve the box. Kamal is stopped by naidu (his best role following the priest). The box is addressed to patti kamal, so our hero reaches Chithambaram to retrieve blah blah blah……, yawn… yawn – you get it right ?
Now that the stupid story is out of the way – let’s look at why one should hate this movie
Plot holes – there are so many that this exercises is best left as an exercise for kindergarten kids.
Inconsistent script, screenplay and not to mention the piss-poor dialogs, what could have been powerfully moving, rib-tickingly funny, bitingly sarcastic only ends being irritatingly repetitive and idiotically unfunny except of course our naidu who along with the priest stand tall among all other insignificant characters.
Hollywood influence – being clearly inspired by the “terminator” assassin, the butterfly effect, the crash/babel style screen play and day after tomorrow type tsunami only proves that the director has either seen these movie or own these dvds (thank god for these wonderful little invention!) . I still don’t understand how this tsunami special-effect was accepted – we simply don’t know how to create special effects , by even somalian standard it looks very amateurish.
Makeup – as numerous others have complained online and elsewhere, we come to see kamal movies for his acting skills, the way he would flex his facial muscle to show off character nuances, not hide behind some ramsay brother horror show makeup. As they used to say “the make-up fails once the character vanishes and the actor emerges”. Alas the film’s greatest gimmick is also its failure !
Overly symbolic - With characters named as Govind Ramaswamy, Andal, Chritian Fletcher etc. there were opportunities galore to leverage them but nothing happened along these lines – Andaal was good at being more stupid than taking care of lord, and our “periyar” was more confused than a dog on a highway.
Tsunami – In an effort to showcase a point-of-view, the creators of this magum opus have leveraged tsunami to explain “intelligent design”. In order to save millions of victims a few 100 thousand need to be destroyed !!!! This accordingly to this reviewer is the single most obscene cinematic act that Indian cinema has ever experienced. No one and I repeat no one can justify what happened when nature unleashed her fury on unsuspecting, innocent people. Its heart breaking to notes these people were also socially and economically weak. Tsunami is the absolute truth – one cannot justify why it happened, trying to do that would only result in rubbing salt in “real” wound of victims. Along with india how does one explain over 100K death in Indonesia, 30K death is srilanka and over 200K missing in total !
Of course kamal does question the act but leaves it at that and starts romancing the very next minute while the backdrop is filled with people either dead or dying or crying for their dead. This cinematic time-splice experiment is so disgusting and so forced this viewer felt like throwing his slipper at the screen.
Fate, chance, religion, actions, consequences are too big of a topic to wrestle with – it’s best left with people who can handle it. As much as I complain about running-around-trees-signing-songs-type-films, I would prefer that over this half-baked insulting piece of trash cinema.
So let me repeat Kamal is a national treasure – his movies are looked up on as quintessential good Indian movies, but his latest outing is a travesty is film making. In an effort to create a record of some sorts kamal et. al. merely resemble the fellow who stopped cutting his finger nails to enter the Guinness book – yes it’s a world record but pretty disgusting to look at!
Kamal fans (unlike others) are of two types – one who like him as a brilliant actor and the other who worship him for his persona. I am the former, for me Kamal is our Robert De Niro – numerous times have I seen his films and enjoyed them but alas in Dasvatharam Kamal the persona takes over and when all chaos ends only his mountain size ego remains. “
more talk on the demise albeit a few years back..
trust rangan to drip optimism to the extent of resuscitating the legend
Only actor I know who dared to act in a language so entirely at variance with his own (KABITA - Bengali - 1977, remake of JEEVAN DHARA - 1982 ), saying the dialogues himself, even going to the extent of reciting poems! Some of his lesser known Hindi films also stand out, e.g., Zara Si Zindgi - 1983.
i really feel issues are microanalysed ,come on man u loved him for years i dont think he has changed ,they tried to pump adrenaline and sense of awe audience expect every tym a new kaml comes in.its a try ,yea some charectors r unbaked nd story line is not apposite but still kamal excels in most of the roles,i cant imagine ny other actor able to pull of this one.in pure lay man cinematic terms fst half is gud but tempo goes down in second
Everybody makes mistakes.I request all of you not to give up on one of the gretert actors the world has ever produced.
sandm - if we had micro-analyzed then any one of Kamal’s films could be ripped apart, what we are putting down in words are mere observations.
I would have to disagree with you on “kamal excels in most of the roles” - why because there is nothing there to “excel” in and also you really don’t need kamal for it. It looked like kamal was trying to prove once again he is the greatest actor India has ever produced (which probably is right) but what threw me off is the obnoxious lengths he goes to achieve the same.
Kamal doesnot have to prove he is a legend - he already is, its for the others to catch up with him. So why should he be a terminator, george bush, the social worker, the tall muslim, the punjabi etc. Would there be any “story impact” by replacing them with other actors ? I think not - so why then this exercise in futility ?
DPac link above clearly hits the nail on its head - it looks like Kamal is running out of ideas and hence has to rely on such low-form directors such as Ravikumar to feed his appetite which unfortunately includes his ego.
It truly is sad - hopefully his next outing will be less gimmick and more stuff.
[...] there are some results showing that he is the director of the Coke ads of Vivek Oberoi and Ash, and Chachi 420 as well ). At least what her filmography on IMdB has for display is the one that IS impressive. I can bet [...]
I don’t understand this flood of disappointment and anger against Dasavatharam…just because it belongs to a genre that is totally new to the Kollywood industry.To an audience that is fed and nurtured on “traditonal” emotional and mental gimmicks, viewing a tightly-knit and explodingly creative story is indeed difficult…you guys are caught in a time warp…sorry to say. Kala’s greatest asset is his ability to keep pace with the times, at the risk of getting ahead of it as well!!! Long live KAMAL.