Kamal Haasan wants to be the best ‘rasigan’ above everything: Film historian K. Hariharan

Author and Film historian, K. Hariharan, on Sunday presented an overview of actor Kamal Haasan’s career, spanning over 250 films, through a handful of his marquee films, while giving a talk on Bahurupi: Kamal Haasan’s rise in Madras Film Industry, organised by Madras Musings in collaboration with Cinema Rendezvous. 

In his talk, Mr. Hariharan said that Kamal Haasan wants to be the best ‘rasigan’ (fan) beyond everything else he does. “When you see Robert De Niro, Marlon Brando, Kevin Costner... I wonder why he couldn’t have been in Hollywood and what he could have achieved,” he said, adding that he loved his mentors - K. Balachander, L. V. Prasad. 

Mr. Hariharan spoke about how the trials faced by Mr. Haasan in an industry dominated by stalwarts of the Dravidian movement and in a State where cinema and politics was intertwined. Speaking about the process of writing his book on Kamal Haasan, Mr. Hariharan said, “The idea of writing the book on 40 films came in 2008 when we did the screenwriting workshop. I wanted the book to be read across the world which is not hagiographic. Kamal Haasan was on board, and he gave me total freedom to write what I wanted.”

Mr. Hariharan said that Mr. Haasan’s Hey Raam was a trendsetter of sorts. “The film had deaths, blood...and disgust. Until 2010, the trend continued with films made by Vetrimaaran, Mysskin and others talking about how real life actually is. By the time, Vikram II came... I couldn’t find Kamal Haasan itself,” he said.