An acting legend's golden jubilee

" నీ favourite hero ఎవరు?", someone asked when our group of friends sat together for a chat, in Special Coaching Center-Barkatpura, Hyderabad), before a class for an EAMCET '95 crash course started. "Kamal Hasan", answered my friend Vikram. "ఆఁ, సర్లే, కమల్‌హాసన్ నచ్చనిది ఎవరికి? ఇంకో పేరు చెప్పు!" quipped the questioner. This is what I have seen on several occasions later too, among various groups of friends in Hyderabad, Bapatla, or even New Jersey or Louisiana. I lost touch with Vikram after the course, but he too probably relived this scene even after 1995. "Really... how can one actor be a favorite for so many people, across generations?", I wondered back then, and ever since! "అబ్బ, భరతనాట్యం, కథాకళి, కథక్ ఇవేమీ మనకు తెలియకపోయినా అందరికీ తేడా అర్థమయ్యే లాగా ఎంత బాగా చేస్తున్నాడు !", said my grandmother once, about Kamal Hasan in Saagara Sangamam. "మరుగుజ్జు లాగ భలే ఉన్నాడు కమల్... అసలెట్లా చేసాడో!", wondered a friend as he recommended Vichitra Sodarulu movie to me. "కమల్‌హాసన్ ఒక్కడి కోసమైనా చూడొచ్చు సినిమా", assured another friend about Indrudu-Chandrudu. "ఆడపాత్రలు అంతకు ముందు కూడా వేసారు జనాలు... కానీ, కమల్‌హాసన్‌ని చూస్తే ఎబ్బెట్టుగా అనిపించదు.", pondered someone. "పది పాత్రలూ కమల్‌హాసన్ ఒక్కడే వెయ్యాలా అంటే అక్కర్లేదు. కానీ, తప్పేముంది, అంతటి variation చూపించగలిగినప్పుడు?", someone else defended Dasavatharam. "కమల్‌హాసన్ సినిమాలు అంటే అందరూ classy movies గురించి చెబుతారు కానీ, కమల్‌హాసన్ comedies భలే ఉంటాయి అసలు... తెనాలి, బ్రహ్మచారి, ...అన్నిటి కన్నా too much అంటే సతీ లీలావతి...", another went on listing, while someone else added, "అవి మాత్రమేనా...? మైఖేల్ మదన కామ రాజు? ఒక రాధ-ఇద్దరు కృష్ణులు? పుష్పక విమానం?..." and someone else joined in, "ఎక్కువ మంది చూడలేదేమో కానీ... confusing comedies 'ఎక్కితే' నవ్వండి.. లవ్వండి!, పంచతంత్రం, ముంబయ్ Xప్రెస్ కూడా బాగా నచ్చుతాయి అట్లాంటి వాళ్ళకి.", and another of our lengthy discussions on India's one of the greatest actors has already ensued. ...When such discussions happen, some people might have heard comments like "...make-up gimmicks తప్పించి నాకు performance ఎక్కువ కనిపించదు కమల్‌హాసన్‌లో... Over-action అనిపిస్తుంది...". Kamal in Nayakudu I wonder if such people watched the classics Idi Katha Kaadu, Aakali Raajyam, Amavasya Chandrudu, Maro Charitra, Vasantha Kokila, Saagara Sangamam, Naayakudu, Kshatriya Puthrudu, or the more recent Mahanadi, Drohi, Pothuraju, Raghavan, and can I ever stop listing more films where he shows his acting prowess?! We all know his talent that speaks countless volumes, even through his muted expressions such as those in Saagara Sangamam or the full-silent movie Pushpaka Vimaanam. "Can his skills be in dance, writing, direction, and acting be matched by any one person?", I wonder. And then, it's no wonder S.P. Balasubrahmanyam comes to my mind, though his talents are a bit on different side, reminding why Kamal and S.P.B. could gel so well, that S.P.B. entered into film production with Kamal Hasan's Subha Sankalpam, and that we cannot sometimes think of Kamal Hasan without S.P.B.'s voice to go with it - a "combo pack" that completes 20 years since their first acting-dubbing combination in Erra Gulabeelu (1979). Kamal Hasan started as a child artiste, became a dancer/choreographer, turned a hero, penned stories and screenplays, and produced and directed films. The multi-versed artiste had also rendered more than a handful of songs, some of them even in movies that he didn't act (Dhanush's Dhoolpeta is the only example for Telugu audience), and two of them for female characters he portrayed on screen, and three songs in Yuvan Shankar Raja's Tamil Indipop album! Some of these include: వెయ్ వెయ్ తకధిమి... (ఒక రాధ-ఇద్దరు కృష్ణులు), రుక్కు రుక్కు రుక్కు... (భామనే సత్యభామనే..!), శరవణభవ కొలువగు వెలుగా... (నవ్వండి.. లవ్వండి!), లక్కు మీద లక్కు వచ్చి... (నవ్వండి.. లవ్వండి!), విరహమే లేక కవితలే రావు... (పంచతంత్రం), నేనే శివం... (సత్యమే శివం), ఇదేమి వింత గోల... (ముంబయ్ Xప్రెస్స్), నిప్పుల పెదవులు జ్వలియిస్తే... (ధూల్‌పేట), and ముకుందా ముకుందా... (దశావతారం). (He also penned lyrics but not in Telugu.) It's a surprise to note that Kamal acted in less than 200 movies in his 50-year acting career (ignoring nearly 10 years that he didn't act between his transition from child artiste to dance direction career to lead actor) and the only a quarter of them have been released in Telugu! Yet, he received Nandi Award for Best Actor thrice and Filmfare Award for Best Actor thrice in 14 straight Telugu films (not counting simultaneous makes) he acted. Starting with Best Child Artiste Award for his very first film, Kamal won the Best Actor Award thrice, thus having won four national awards in all!  He won a total of 18 Filmfare Awards in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi, one of them being a Best Story Award (for Viraasat in Hindi). Kamal Hasan-penned and directed Virumaandi (Pothuraju in Telugu) won the International Award for Best Asian Film at South Korea's Puchon International Fantastic Film  Festival. His films went to the Oscars seven times! It's sad to note that the Government of India thinks he's worth just the "level one" Padma award, the PadmaSree, which was awarded in 1990! Kamal was also the first recipient of the Abraham Kovoor National Award for "Humanist Activities and Secular Life" in 2004. It's not incorrect to say that many awards gained respect after they were conferred to Kamal Hasan! In all, Kamal Hasan is said to have won over 170 awards, interestingly a number very near to the total number of films he acted ever! FICCI gave him the Living Legend Award this year, but what award can be a measure of all the talent that's spelt by the name K-A-M-A-L-H-A-S-A-N!?

Posted in: Kamal Hasan