1. KAMAL HASAN LIFE
சநதன
Kamal Haasan (Tamil: கமல ஹாசன;
born 7 November 1954) is an Indian film actor,
screenwriter, and director, considered to be one
of the leading method actors of Indian cinema.[1]
[2]
He is widely acclaimed as an actor and is well
known for his versatility in acting.[3][4][5] Kamal
Haasan has won several Indian film awards,
including four National Film Awards and
numerous Filmfare Awards, and is known for
having starred in the largest number of films
submitted by India in contest for the Academy
Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In
addition to acting, screenwriting and directing,
he has also featured in films as a songwriter,
playback singer, choreographer and lyricist.His
film production company, Rajkamal
International, has produced several of his films.
In 2009, he became one of very few Indian
actors to have completed 50 years in cinema.[8]
Kamal Haasan is also a recipient of an Honorary
doctorate by Sathyabama University.[9]
1

2. After several projects as a child artist, Kamal
Haasan's breakthrough into lead acting came
with his role in the 1975 drama Apoorva
Raagangal, in which he played a rebellious
youth in love with an older woman. He secured
his second Indian National Film Award for his
portrayal of a guileless school teacher who tends
a child-like amnesiac in 1982's Moondram Pirai.
He was particularly noted for his performance in
Mani Ratnam's Godfatheresque Tamil film
Nayagan (1987), which was ranked by Time
magazine as one of the best films of all time.[10]
Since then he has gone on to appear in other
notable films such as his own productions, Hey
Ram and Virumaandi, as well as the
Dasavathaaram, in which he appeared in ten
distinct roles.
Career
Debut as child artiste: 1959–1963
After shifting from Paramakudi with his family
for his mother's medical treatment, Kamal
Haasan was enrolled at Holy Angels school in T.
Nagar. As a child, he became interested in
dance.There are two versions regarding his entry
2

3. into films. One version has it that, as a little boy,
he accompanied a doctor who went to treat an ill
woman at the home of movie mogul A V
Meyyappa Chettiar (father of AVM Saravanan).
On hearing loud shouting from a first-floor
tenant of the bungalow, the doctor became
uneasy. Young Kamal Haasan strode up the
stairway to ask the noisemaker not to shout over
the phone as someone was ill, leaving the person
astonished. An impressed Meyyappa Chettiar
later provided him an entry into films.The other
version is that when young boy Kamal Haasan
accompanied a family doctor of Meyyappa
Chettiar to his house, producer AVM Saravanan
noticed Kamal as a hyperactive child. She took
him over and introduced to AV Meyyappa
Chettiar who was looking for a young boy to
play a role in the movie Kalathur Kannamma.
Kamal Haasan made his film debut as a four-
year-old child artist in Kalathur Kannamma,
which was directed by A. Bhimsingh and
released on 12 August 1959. He was cast along
with the veteran Tamil actor Gemini Ganesan,
winning the National Film Award for Best Child
Artist.[14] He acted as a child actor in five other
3

4. Tamil films in the subsequent few years co-
starring with Sivaji Ganesan and M. G.
Ramachandran. On seeing Kamal's interests in
arts, his parents supported and helped him join
the TKS Nataka Sabha, an old-style theatre. T.
K. Shanmugam was Kamal's guru in the theatre.
During this period, he continued with his school
education at Hindu High School in Triplicane
while still being a prominent part of the theatre
troupe. He learned acting by watching his guru
Shanmugam perform on stage and acquired his
interest in make-up from Shanmugam.[11][15]
Breakthrough and experimentation:
1970–75
Following a seven-year hiatus from films,
Haasan returned to the industry with the hope of
joining the technical crew in films but was
selected to appear in supporting roles in several
films. He re-entered the film industry playing his
first adult role in Maanavan (1970), appearing
only for a dance sequence. It was followed by
supporting roles in films such as, Annai
Velankani for which he was also an assistant
director. His first notable role was in K.
4

5. Balachander's Arangetram (1973). He played
antagonistic characters in Sollathaan
Ninaikkiren and Gumasthavin Magal, both co-
starring Sivakumar. His first character role was
in Aval Oru Thodar Kathai (1974), another
female-centric film of K. Balachander. After a
few more films in Tamil, he did Naan Avan Illai,
which was the final supporting role before
establishing himself as a lead actor.
He won his first regional Filmfare Award in his
Malayalam debut film Kanyakumari (1974), in
which he played the lead role. Soon he
graduated to play lead roles. However, his first
major break as a lead actor came in Apoorva
Raagangal, for which he also won his first
Filmfare award in Tamil.The film dealt with the
exploration of age-gap relationships and went on
to win the National Film Award for Best Feature
Film in Tamil. For his role, he learned the
mridangam. It is considered as one of the all-
time classics of Tamil cinema and was directed
by his mentor, K. Balachander. The film also
saw the entry of Rajnikanth, who would play
prominent roles in several films of Haasan and
5

6. later went on to become one of the most
successful actors in the Tamil film industry.
Success in the south: 1976–1980
The late 1970s was a period that saw Haasan's
continued collaboration with K. Balachander,
who cast him in many of his social-themed
films. In 1976, Balachander cast him as a
womaniser trying to woo many women in
Manmadha Leelai which was followed by Oru
Oodhappu Kan Simittugiradhu, which won him
his second consecutive Regional Filmfare
(Tamil) Best Actor Award. Later, Kamal Haasan
appeared in the drama Moondru Mudichu with
Rajinikanth and Sridevi, another Balachander
film. Avargal (1977) was one of the most
sensitive movies on woman liberation, for which
he learnt the art of ventriloquism.[18] The film
was also remade in Telugu as Idi Katha Kaadu
(1979) with Haasan repeating his role. 16
Vayathinile won him his third consecutive best
actor award, where he appeared as a village
bumpkin, along with Rajinikanth and Sridevi. In
1977, he starred in his first Kannada film,
Kokila, which was the directorial debut of
6

7. another friend and mentor, Balu Mahendra. The
same year, he acted in a Bengali film, Kabita. In
1978, he debuted in the Telugu film industry as
a lead actor with the cross-cultural romantic
film, Maro Charithra directed by K.
Balachander. The film was regarded a cult-
classic and was also Haasan's first major hit. His
fourth consecutive Filmfare award came with
Sigappu Rojakkal, an anti-hero thriller in which
he played a psychopathic sexual killer.
Few of the other famous films in this period
were the Telugu film Sommokadidhi Sokkadidhi,
where he played dual roles, the musical
entertainer Ninaithale Inikkum, the snake horror
film Neeya and Kalyanaraman.
At the end of this period, he had won six
regional Best Actor Filmfare Awards, including
four consecutive Best Tamil Actor Awards and
became a famous actor in South India by having
starred in all languages.
Bollywood foray: 1980s
Kamal Haasan's pairing with the actress Sridevi
continued with Tamil classic Varumayin Niram
7

8. Sigappu in 1980, where he played an
unemployed youth. Kamal Haasan also made a
guest–cameo appearance in the Rajnikanth's
Thillu Mullu. He made his Bollywood debut
with Ek Duuje Ke Liye, the remake of his
Telugu-language film, Maro Charithra, also by
K. Balachander which earned him his first
Filmfare nomination. He made his 100th film
appearance in 1981 with Raja Paarvai, which
also marked his debut in film production.
Despite this film's relatively poor reception at
the cinemas, his portrayal of a blind session
violinist earned him a Filmfare Award.
Following a year of starring in commercially-
oriented films, he won his first of three National
Awards for Best Actor with his portrayal of a
school teacher who looks after an amnesia
patient in Balu Mahendra's Moondram Pirai,
alter reprising the role in the Hindi version,
Sadma.[During this time he concentrated more in
Bollywood acting in remakes of his Tamil films,
most famously Yeh To Kamaal Ho Gaya and
Zara Si Zindagi. In 1983, he appeared in Sagara
Sangamam, directed by Kasinadhuni Viswanath.
His portrayal as a drunkard classical dancer
8

9. fetched him his first Nandi Award for Best
Actor and second Filmfare Best Telugu Actor
Award.
After the successful multi starrer Raaj Tilak in
1984, he acted in Saagar, released in 1985, for
which he was awarded both the Filmfare Best
Actor Award and was nominated for a Best
Supporting Actor Award at the same ceremony
for this role. The film was India's representative
for the Academy Award for the Best Foreign
Language Film in 1985 Saagar portrayed him
alongside Rishi Kapoor. The same year, he
appeared in Geraftaar alongside Amitabh
Bachchan. He featured in Tamil cinema's first
sequel Japanil Kalyanaraman, which followed
up his previous Kalyanaraman.
n 1986, he again colloborated with K.
Vishwanath in Swathi Muthyam which portrayed
him as an autistic person attempting to change
society. The film was India's official entry for
the Best Foreign Language Film for the
Academy Awards in 1986.The enormous
response to these films in Tollywood helped him
capture a strong audience in Andhra Pradesh,
9

10. and many of his later Tamil films were regularly
dubbed in Telugu. Following Punnagai
Mannan, in which he portrayed dual roles
including a satire of Charlie Chaplin as Chaplin
Chellappa and Vetri Vizha as an amnesiac,
Kamal Haasan appeared in Mani Ratnam's 1987
film Nayagan. Nayagan portrays the life of an
underworld don in Bombay. The story revolved
around the life of a real-life underworld don
called Varadarajan Mudaliar, while
sympathetically depicting the struggle of South
Indians living in Mumbai. He received his third
Indian National Award for his performance and
Nayagan was nominated by India as its entry for
the Best Foreign Language Film for the
Academy Awards in 1987. It was included in the
Time top 100 movies list. In 1988, Kamal
Haasan appeared in his only silent film to date,
Pushpak, a black comedy.In 1989, he appeared
in three roles (one of which was that of a dwarf)
in Apoorva Sagodharargal.] He then performed
dual roles in Indrudu Chandrudu, winning the
Filmfare Best Actor Award and Nandi Awards
for his performance. In 1989, Kamal Haasan
starred in his last original Malayalam film as
10

11. hero to date, titled Chanakyan. The multi-starrer
film was critically acclaimed and was a hit.
The 1980s saw the transformation of Kamal
Haasan from a young heart-throb performer in
Tamil films to a nationally acclaimed star
appreciated for his method acting. By the end of
1980s, he had entered and tasted success in
Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi film
industries, had received Filmfare awards at each
of these film industries, three National awards
and had his performances recognized at
international film festivals.
Tryst with comedy: 1990s
In 1990, Michael Madhana Kamarajan saw
Kamal Haasan go one step further from Apoorva
Sagodharargal, acting in four different roles as
quadruplets. It started an ongoing collaboration
with Crazy Mohan, a dialogue writer, for future
comedy films.]The film became a blockbuster,
and his portrayals were all critically praised; one
cook role formed the crux for a future venture by
his production house. Kamal Haasan won
successive Best Actor awards for his portrayal of
11

12. the deranged, obsessive protagonist in Guna and
Thevar Magan, where he played the son of actor
Sivaji Ganesan. Guna met with critical acclaim
but failed commercially, while the latter became
a big success and was remade into Hindi as
Virasat. Kamal Haasan was credited for the
story and became India's submission for the
Academy Awards that year. After a series of
films such as Singaravelan, Maharasan and
Kalaignan, he played a cheated villager in the
emotionally draining and underrated classic
Mahanadi. Six years after it released, it was
premiered at the Rotterdam festival. He then
began to appear in comedies such as Sathi
Leelavathi, based on the English film She-Devil.
The film, his home production, featured him
opposite comedienne Kovai Sarala and its
success led to further regional remakes. He also
renewed his collobaration with Kasinadhuni
Viswanath in his last Telugu-language film to
date, Subha Sankalpam. In 1995, Kamal Haasan
starred in the police story Kuruthipunal. His
success in Kuruthipunal was followed by his
third National Film Award for Best Actor, for
the film Indian. Playing dual roles of a freedom
12

13. fighter and his untrustful son, the film also won
Kamal Haasan regional awards and plaudits for
his portrayal. Moreover, both films were also
selected as India's submissions for the Academy
Awards in their respective release years.
Kamal Haasan appeared as a woman in Avvai
Shanmughi, inspired by the Hollywood
production Mrs. Doubtfire.[28] He initially chose
noted adfilm maker Shantanu Sheorey to direct
the Hindi remake of Avvai Shanmughi, titled
Chachi 420.[29] But unhappy with the complaints
after five days of shoot and after checking the
actual result, he took over as director. In 1997,
Kamal Haasan began his first directorial venture,
the biopic of Mohammed Yusuf Khan,
Marudhanayagam, which failed to complete its
schedules with only half an hour and a trailer
being recorded during its shoot
Marudhanayagam had been speculated to be the
biggest and most expensive film in Indian
cinema with a number of high profile actors
technicians signing up for roles. Moreover, the
film was launched in a highly publicized
ceremony by Elizabeth II of the United
Kingdom during her visit to India in 1997.Due
13

14. to budget constraints, the film failed to
materialize into a feature film, but he has since
stated his interest in building up funds for the
project.
Hey Ram and onwards: 2000–present
Following a two-year hiatus in Indian cinema,
he opted against reviving his magnum opus,
Marudhanayagam, and filmed his second
directorial venture, Hey Ram, a period drama
told in flashback with a semi-fictional plot
centering around India's Partition and the
assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. Kamal
Haasan also took on roles as the writer, the
lyricist and the choreographer as well as
producing the film under his home banner. The
film, also featured Shahrukh Khan and was
India's submission for the Academy Awards that
year. His following film was Aalavandhan,
where he portrayed two distinct roles, for one of
which he had his head shaved bald and gained
ten kilograms. To play the other army major in
Alavandaan (Abhay, in Hindi), he went to the
NDA for a crash course. The Hindi version
Abhay was distributed by reputed Shringar
14

15. Films.Despite much publicity prior to release,
the film failed commercially, and he opted to
repay distributors who had suffered losses with
the film.
Following a series of successful comedies in
Thenali, Panchathantiram and Pammal K.
Sambandam and a couple of guest appearances,
Kamal Haasan directed his third feature film in
Virumaandi, a film about the death penalty
which won the Best Asian Film award at Puchon
International Fantastic Film Festival.Kamal
Haasan also appeared in Anbe Sivam alongside
Madhavan. Priyadarshan, who started the film,
departed allowing commercial director Sundar C
to complete the film. Anbe Sivam told the story
of Nallasivam, enacted by Kamal Haasan as a
communist. Kamal Haasan's performance was
highly lauded by critics with The Hindu stating
that he "has once again done Tamil cinema
proud".
Kamal Haasan then appeared in the remake film
Vasool Raja alongside Sneha. In 2006, Haasan's
long delayed project, Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu
emerged as a blockbuster. In 2008, he appeared
15

16. in K. S. Ravikumar's Dasavathaaram portraying
ten distinct roles in the venture, which remains
one of the most expensive Indian films ever
made.Featuring him opposite Asin Thottumkal,
the film became the highest grossing film ever in
Tamil cinema, beating the previous 2007 record,
and won him critical praise for his
performance.In Canada, the film was distributed
by Walt Disney Pictures, the first Tamil film to
be done so. The film ultimately grossed more
than 250 crores worldwide. He had written the
story and screenplay for the project.
Following the completion of Dasavathaaram,
Kamal Haasan opted to direct his fourth
directorial venture, with a film tentatively titled
Marmayogi, which after a year of pre-production
became stalled. He then opted to produce and
star in a venture, Unnaipol Oruvan, co-starring
him with Mohanlal. The film, which had Shruti
Haasan appear as the music director, became a
successful venture for him at the box office.[48]
Kamal Haasan worked on his fifth collaboration
with Ravikumar, in Manmadan Ambu, for which
he also wrote the dialogues and screenplay. The
film also featured Madhavan and Trisha
16

17. Krishnan and was released in December 2010.
The story revolves around a man who hires a
detective to find out if he is being cheated by his
fiancée. This film completed one month
successfully but was officially declared an
average film.
Off-screen contributions
In addition to acting, Kamal Haasan has also
played various roles behind the camera and is
known for his involvement in several aspects of
film-making. He wrote the story and/or screen-
play for many of his films including Raja
Paarvai, Apoorva Sagodharargal, Guna, Thevar
Magan, Mahanadhi, Hey Ram, Aalavandhan,
Anbe Sivam, Nala Damayanthi, Virumaandi,
Dasavathaaram and Manmadhan Ambu. His
film production company, Rajkamal
International, has produced several of his films.
He also directed the films Chachi 420, Hey Ram
and Virumaandi. He considered taking up film
direction full time, if Hey Ram was a success,
but did not do so as the film was a box office
failure.In 2010, he stated his intention to direct
more films as many young actors had wished to
17

18. work under him and gain his direct guidance. He
wanted to turn a technician after his comeback
into adult roles. Speaking about it in a lighter
vein, he once said, "Film makers like K.
Balachander told me that I won’t be able make
much money by being a technician. So the end
result is that the star Kamal funds the technician
Kamal in pursuing his dreams".Kamal has
attended workshops for make-up techniques in
US for several years and once trained as a make-
up man under Michael Westmore.
Kamal Haasan is also well known as a song-
writer. He first penned lyrics for Hey Ram and
followed it with films like Virumaandi, Unnai
Pol Oruvan and Manmadhan Ambu. They were
well received by his peers in the Tamil film
industry. Kamal Haasan is also a playback
singer. He has sung close to 70 songs in Tamil,
Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and English.
18

19. Personal life
Family
Kamal Haasan filmed with M. G. Ramachandran
Kamal Haasan was born in the town of
Paramakudi in the Ramanathapuram district of
Tamil Nadu, to a criminal lawyer named D.
Srinivasan and his wife Rajalakshmi. He was
born as an Iyengar Brahmin. Kamal Haasan was
the youngest of four children, the others being
Charuhasan, Chandrahasan and Nalini Raghu.
His father was a martinet. He wanted all his sons
(Chandrahasan, Charuhasan, Kamalahaasan) to
study and do well. The two elder brothers
followed their father’s example and studied law.
Kamal spent his childhood learning everything
except staying focussed on his studies.
Kamal Haasan had referred to his parents in
couple of his films, with references being made
19

20. in Unnaipol Oruvan as well as in the song Kallai
Mattum from Dasavathaaram.His eldest brother
Charuhasan, like Kamal Haasan, is a National
Film Award-winning actor, who appeared in the
Kannada film Tabarana Kathe, among others.
Kamal's niece (Charuhasan's daughter), Suhasini
is also a National Film Award winner and is
married to director and fellow Award winner
Mani Ratnam, who collaborated with Kamal
Haasan on 1987's Nayagan.Chandra Haasan has
appeared as the producer for several of Kamal
Haasan's films as well as being an executive of
Kamal Haasan's home production company,
Rajkamal International. His brother's daughter
Anu Hasan has appeared in several films in
supporting roles, most notably in Suhasini's
Indira. His sister Nalini Raghu is a dance
teacher. Kamal Haasan later named an
auditorium after his sister as Nalini Mahal. Her
son, Gautham, played Kamal Haasan's grandson
in his directorial venture, Hey Ram.
Relationships
Despite his celebrated film career, his personal
life had some setbacks which have been
20

21. exploited by the media. In his early career, he
co-starred in several films with actress Srividya.
The pair were reported to have been a part of a
notorious affair in the 1970s, with their
relationship being explored in the 2008-released
Malayalam film, Thirakkatha by Renjith, with
Anoop Menon portraying Kamal Haasan and
Priyamani playing Srividya. Srividya, who died
in 2006, was visited by Kamal Haasan at her
bedside during her final days.In 1978, at the age
of 24, Kamal Haasan married danseuse Vani
Ganapathy, who was older than he was. Vani put
on the mantle of costume designer for her
husband's movies and was publicized for
walking along with Haasan into the Filmfare
Awards South ceremony of 1980 immediately
after their wedding. However, the couple split
after ten years together, after Kamal Haasan
began dating fellow actress Sarika, confirming
in a later interview that he and Vani have never
been in touch since their divorce.
Subsequently, Kamal Haasan and Sarika lived
together from 1988, opting to marry only after
having their second child. Of the two children:
Shruti Haasan (born 1986) and Akshara Haasan
21

22. (born 1991), the former is a singer as well as an
upcoming actress, while the latter is pursuing
higher studies in Bangalore. Sarika took a break
from acting soon after her marriage with Kamal
Haasan. However, she replaced his ex-wife,
Vani Ganapathy, as Haasan's costume designer,
with acclaimed work in Hey Ram. The couple
filed for divorce in 2002, with Sarika estranging
herself from Kamal Haasan by the end of the
procedure in 2004. His intimate relationship
with co-star Simran Bagga, who is twenty-two
years younger, became the reason for the
split.However, Haasan's relationship with
Simran, who appeared opposite him in two
consecutive ventures with Pammal K.
Sambandam and Panchathantiram, was short-
lived as Simran went on to marry her childhood
friend in late 2003.[63] Haasan now lives with
former actress Gouthami Tadimalla, who co-
starred with him in several films in the late 80s
and early 90s. He had helped her during her
traumatic experience suffering from breast
cancer and the pair have been in a domestic
relationship since 2005. Along with Shruti and
Akshara, Gouthami's daughter, Subbalakshmi,
22

23. from an annulled marriage also lives with them.
[64]
Religious views
Kamal Haasan, despite being born into a Hindu
Brahmin family, has declared himself as an
atheist; many of his films, notably Mahanadi
and the two films co-written by Kamal Haasan
(Anbe Sivam and Dasavathaaram), have
featured anti-theistic views.Kamal Haasan, has
also been mistaken for a Muslim due to the
Islamic nature of his surname, and was famously
stopped for his name at Toronto Pearson
International Airport in 2002.[ The name
originated from a friend of his father, Yaakob
Hassan, a Muslim freedom fighter who spent
time in prison with Kamal Haasan's father while
imprisoned by the British. Yaakob Hassan had
protected Srinivasan from other prisoners who
hated the Brahmins. Later, he paid tribute to his
friend by incorporating part of his name into his
sons’ names.[
23

24. Humanitarian work
Kamal Haasan is actively involved in several
social service activities through his fan clubs
under the banner Kamal Narpani Iyakkam.
(Kamal Welfare Association) His fan clubs are
involved in organising blood and eye donation
drives and donating education materials to
school students.He received the first Abraham
Kovoor National Award for his Humanist
Activities and Secular Life in 2004.He has
turned his fan associations into social service
organisations. He was also the project
ambassador of Hridayaragam 2010, a fundraiser
to set up an orphanage for HIV/AIDS-affected
children. In September 2010, Kamal Haasan
launched a children’s cancer relief fund and
presented roses to children with cancer at Sri
Ramachandra University in Porur on the
outskirts of Chennai.[He has also pledged to
endorse consumer products and use the money
for social service.
24

25. Literary contributions
Kamal Haasan was involved in running the
magazine Mayyam, which was run by the Kamal
Haasan Welfare Association (Narpani Iyakkam).
His views on a wide range of issues including
cinema, child and drug abuse and the Kashmir
conflict, have been collected and published as a
book titled Thedi Theerpom Va (Come, Let's
Solve Together), by his fan association. His
interest in Tamil literature and his own writing
skills are well known.
25