Kamal Haasan on Vikram success, making movies like Anbe Sivam, Mahanadhi: ‘Audience is a multi-headed monster’

Vikram marked the return of Kamal to the big screen after a gap of four years. The film was a spin-off of a spy character that Kamal had created for his 1985 movie Vikram. So would the success of Vikram change the kind of movies that Kamal, who has had his fair of huge commercial failures, usually makes?

During a special interview with Galatta Plus, Kamal Haasan resoundingly said no, while calling the audience “a multi-headed monster”.

“One day, they would just like to eat curd rice, the next day they feel like eating chapaati and gravy and the day after that, they would just feel like having tender coconut. Even if you offer loads of chappati and gravy, they are not going to eat it that day. That is why Charlie Chaplin described the audience as a multi-headed monster, as he didn’t understand what to feed it,” Kamal said.

Kamal Haasan further underlined the importance of positively promoting the movie. He noted that the small negativity that may originate within the production team may spread and eventually affect the film’s success.

“Today they liked my movie, I don’t know why. They may not like my next film. And for that, I will be solely responsible. We can’t blame them. Who else should I hold responsible? They should understand my excellence. They should feel guilty for setting mediocrity as a standard,” Kamal added.

The Vikram star also said that he would continue to do movies that enrich the standards and taste of Tamil cinema. “This generation may not know that Sakalakala Vallavan was as big a hit as Vikram is today. It made the highest collection at the time and everyone celebrated it. I also felt that I had peaked. But, the same year, the same audience also made Moondram Pirai a silver jubilee success. It’s possible. Mahanadhi will be a hit if made today. Anbe Sivam will celebrate its silver jubilee if released today. K. S. Gopalakrishnan made a movie called Aayiram Roobai (1964). That film will be a hit if it comes out today. He spoke about demonization back then. His film Ennathan Mudivu (1965) had such an effect on me, that I made Hey Ram,” Kamal said.

Kamal Haasan will return to the Vikram franchise soon. The film’s over Rs 400 crore collection from its worldwide ticket sales has made it all the more inevitable.