May 12, 2005

Defending Kamal Haasan

Came across this post in Balaji's website: http://bbthots.blogspot.com/2005/05/virumaandi-and-david-gale.html
This accuses Kamal of acting as a 'arivujeevi' despite of stealing the stories of his movies from Hollywood flicks.. I dont agree to it completely. The main discussion is on Virumandi.
Virumandi was in the making for a real long time.. under the name Sandiyar.. 3 Deewarein was released on first week of august, 2003. (http://www.rediff.com/movies/2003/aug/01deewar.htm)
Kamal is one who likes to give interviews.. he does it frequently.. and he reveals the inspirations, if any, during some interview or the other.. everyone knew that Avvai Shanmughi was going to be indianized Mrs. Doubtfire.. Even Magalir Mattum, Kamal said, was inspiration from a Hollywood movie.. I remember that well.. not all can see/listen to all of Kamal's interviews.. so it is not his mistake and responsibility to answer everyone.
Kamal, we all know, is from Paramakudi, a Thevar-dominated area.. He has told that he, and R.C.Shakthi, a Thevar, used to spend lot of time in each other's house.. so, the impact of the other community can be seen their movies.. RC Shakthi's Sirai is a classic take on Brahmins... and Kamal likes to take on Thevars..
Being born and brought up in urban society of Madras, hard to know whats going on in villages in south tamilnadu.. Life in villages is different: the "Pangali" fight among Thevar community can sometime be really cruel.. Kamal has portrayed that wonederfully in Thevar Magan and to some extent, in Virumandi. So, comparing Thevar Magan to Godfather is unacceptable. True.. Kamal has always heaped praise on Marlon Brando, and said that his Nayakan act has been influenced by him.. but I dont think so about Thevar Magan. By now, you would have realized that I am a big time Kamal fan.. but that doesnt mean I would defend him for all he does.
I didnt like the hoopla around his "Doctorate" ... The 'honarary doctorate' has become a joke of late.. (do i need to tell about the politicians?) we all know it too well... Though Kamal has achieved more than some of those who have received it (that too multiple times, from different universities...!!!), I think it is not necessary for Kamal to put a Dr. in front of his name.. Looks cheap to me..

Hope I didnt hurt anyone..

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Padmanabhan!
Good post there man. Long time I wanted to write a post on this; I mean abt all this accusation on Kamal being a narcissist, plagiarizer and stuff :). I ve been writing abt this more on comments section of other blogs rather than mine; and mind you, its still in the making! Do visit my blog.

Raju said...

Zero,
Thanks.. I knew I am not the only hardcore Kamal fan blogging around. "Kaikkira maramdhaan kalladi padum" is happening to Kamal, I guess. He is expanding his skills from just acting and producing to other difficult things like story, screenplay, dialogues and even direction and he does them well.. so he is expected by some people to bear more responsibility by default.

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Anonymous said...

Kamal flicks from hollywood films & then says he was inspired. Magalir mattum from 9to5, anbe sivam from plans, trains & automobiles, vetri vizha from the bourne identity... the list is a long one. Also, he always shows a particular community (the one he belongs to) in very poor light....examples are avvai shnamughi, thevar magan, MMKR etc.,

Also, instead of working with "yes sir" directors like singeetham & santhana bharathi, he must give directors a free hand.

www.muebles-en-guipuzcoa.com said...

For my part everyone ought to glance at it.