Its two years since we watched Kamal Haasan in a full-fledged role on-screen. Instead we catch him nearly every day on TV in a verbal slug fest with dithering politicians and on weekends hosting a show that has viewers hooked. The discomfort politicians are exhibiting reminds me of Jeetendra confessing that Kamal was sending shivers down the spines of Bombay stars after ‘Ek Dhuje Ke Liye’ was released. Is he just going to create political ripples or take the plunge?
The undeniable fact about politics is that it’s easier to comment. When Rajni proclaimed that even God can’t save the state if Jayalalitha won again, he was only echoing the popular sentiment at that time. It was not the sole factor for the lady’s rout. The choice in Tamil Nadu has always been between the devil and the deep sea. Anyway Jayalalitha’s dislike for Kamal seems to have been deep-rooted and purely personal. She made peace with Rajni but never forgave Kamal. As far back as 1986, she apparently wrote to the then Chief Minister MGR not to grace a promotional do organised by Kamal just before the release of ‘Vikram’. Kamal is still clueless about the unpardonable crime he committed. It was probably his rationalist stand or the fact that he did not exhibit the same respect he did for MGR or Karunanidhi. During the ‘Vishwaroopam’ imbroglio when Kamal confessed that he had hocked his house, Jaya retorted that as a grown up, mature man Kamal should have invested more wisely. The fact is that Kamal has always ploughed back in the only trade he knows and has never treated it as a business. He took creative, not calculated risks. Audience rejecting his work was acceptable but not preventing them from paying and passing a verdict for flimsy reasons. He confessed recently that he was advised to prostrate before the lady but chose legal recourse and emerged triumphant. The film was a huge hit at the box-office too.
There is a swagger in his gait these days. It’s probably the relief after expressing all his pent up opinions. He’s never hobnobbed with politicians though some like LK Advani are unabashed fans. MGR and Karunanidhi wooed him in his heyday, but he politely reused and that’s why they remained friends applauding his every creative achievement. Today he’s being teased and taunted into entering politics. He has no God for whose divine instructions he awaits. It’s his diehard admirers who’re praying though that he doesn’t don khadi. Anyway they’re wondering why he’s wasting his time trying to bring order to a house full of small time, out of work actors. The TV channels gain is cinemas loss, temporarily.
This is probably the longest period of creative inactivity in Kamal’s life. It started with a seemingly serious injury to his leg when a ledge gave way. He’s well and about so why’s he not resuming the shoot of the stalled ‘Shabash Naidu’ or wrapping up the post production of the ‘Vishwaroopam’ sequel. “My greatest regret is that Kamal is growing old. I won’t even say that about my husband. No other actor has given me greater joy on-screen and I believe he has a lot more to offer. I urge him to stick to acting at which he’s incomparable,” says a diehard fan. “Kamal has the ability to interpret the rays of the setting sun on his face,” says ace cinematographer PC Sreeram. “Kamal has an amazing sense of using space. You act from your toe up to the neck and the face will do the rest. When he plays an old man the way he stands is enough to convey that. He doesn’t need make-up. I find him to be greater than Hoffman and De NIro put together. It’s a sense of physicality that gives him a third dimension as an actor. I know Kamal can make you cry with a look in his eyes. I know his pauses. He has an amazing sense of timing that he knows audiences will like. That kind of knowledge and control any actor should strive to get,” Shahrukh Khan said during an interview with him. Kamal is the only actor I know who was wooed by Manmohan Desai as well a Mrinal Sen. “Commercial cinema can never spoil that boy’s talent,’” said Mrinalda with an indulgent glint in his eyes. “When I was in the thick of ‘Thevar Magan’ Mrinalda wanted me and I couldn’t go. He was angry and I understand,” Kamal later told me.
If this piece has the tone of a professional obituary it’s only with regard to him as an actor. No other actor has effortlessly evoked emotions from me like he has, be it laughter, love or a lump in the throat. His existing body of work is non-pareil for sheer versatility and variety of themes but he still has so much to offer. He disappoints easily because something out of the ordinary is expected each time. Cinema needs Kamal more than politics.