It might not be an unsuitable time after all, to ponder over what is good and what is not about arguably one of the best of contemporary actors in Indian Cinema. An honorary doctorate is the latest addition to the awards and recognitions that adorn Kamal Hassan's accomplished career in cinema.
A university doctorate is probably very appropriate when you consider the fact that, if there is one thing that sets Kamal apart from his contemporaries, it is his ability to be a keen student. Having learnt the basics of the trade in the Balachander School, Kamal never misses an opportunity to pay due credit to his one time mentor. And of all Balachander's students, it is well known that this one has a special status with the guru.
Kamal was the first to experiment to his heart's content with his home productions fairly early in his then-blooming career. Raja Paarvai, Vikram, Aboorva Sahodharargal were all large-scale experiments in one sense or another. If he had pursued academics, maybe he would have done well in Science, for his thirst to experiment continues till date. There are not many areas of cinema which Kamal has not learnt at some point in his career. From music and dance to make-up and stunt direction, Kamal has probably not missed an opportunity to learn any facet even remotely concerned with Cinema.
Kamal was the first of leading actors to announce his open admiration for Sivaji Ganesan. In South India, when round the clock TV entertainment (a rather new concept) boomed in the early nineties, I remember Kamal in more than a few interviews singing hosannas about Sivaji and highlighting what Sivaji meant to Tamil cinema. Sivaji - inspite of his immense popularity among the elderly - was still a fat and aging actor for the youth of Tamil Nadu. Someone who tended to "overact" at the least opportunity and not too different from other actors of the bygone era. But not according to Kamal, who had no qualms in admitting that everytime he saw Sivaji on screen, there is only one feeling that came to him - "Bramippu" (roughly shocked astonishment). If Barathiraja paid Sivaji his due first respects in "Mudhal Mariyadhai", Kamal followed up with his in "Thevar Magan". For Kamal, it was an attempt to attain completion as an actor - to share the screen with the King, and if possible, compete! Kamal, the pupil, would go so far as to say that the Thevar Magan project itself, was his effort to neutralize the feeling of "Bramippu".
Kamal has never stopped short of imitating other greats in his clan - be it national or international. His inspired imitation of Brando and Pacino in Nayakan and Thevar Magan only reinforces his willingness to learn and accumulate bits and pieces of acting gems from wherever he could. Kamal looked out and adapted from International cinema (particularly Hollywood) when he could, be it for the "kulla-kamal" technique in Aboorva Sahodarargal or the ultra-natural old man make-up in Indhiyan. If a Tamil cinema follower mentioned the Oscar award in any conversation, it is a certainity that the conversation was about Kamal. That his swing at the high honour was dampened by the lack of funds is a rather sad event for Tamil cinema. Maybe someday he will turn around and make Marudhanayagam. And maybe he will win the Oscar, then.
Even when seen under the most critical of lenses, Kamal - The Actor does not fail to impress. For all his acting abilities, Kamal probably does not need the acclaim as a great writer or a director to get registered in Indian Cinema's Hall Of Fame. For a Tendulkar does not need a five-wicket haul to enter cricket folklore. Only that, Kamal wants it. He wants not only to be known as a great actor but as a great film-maker. And as a great film-maker, he wants to be involved in the three corner-stones of film-making - script, screenplay and direction. In more than one occasion, both explicitly and implicitly, he has expressed his desire to be the all-in-all of a film. Where he controls everything.
He wants the film to be - one man's idea, one man's talent, one man's implementation. His.
- To be continued -
