The hubris of the uninitiated notwithstanding, Kamalhassan is truly the deserved son of Brando. Did someone there say that he is a copycat drained of the creative juices, and is bragging his way to the big league? This and the many shibboleths that have been said about him do not prove anything more, than the fact that it takes more to appreciation of the art called cinema than what we earthly mortals want a 2 hr vicarious ride into all things that we cannot enact in our own lives.
With due respects to the legends of Indian cinema like Satyajit Ray, the only living genius of our times is Kamalhassan. Its true that some of the masterpieces of Kamals works do draw their inspiration from similar creative works of western cinema. To name a notable one would be Avvai Shanmugi drawn from Mrs. Doubtfire. However to consign the cinematic adventure of this artist to the cesspool of copying will be a harsh judgment and clear indication of naivety. In spirit Kamal has all the trappings of a modern Marlon Brando. He is clearly ahead of his times; he refuses to be carried away by the compulsions of the box-office and more importantly, keeps reinventing himself every time on the screen.
Check out anbe sivam and you will see his class at least in terms of indian cinema...who the heck is bothered about hollywood actors' capacity anyway? THey dont make movies for us do they....learn to appreciate indian cinema in its own right before criticising it in the light of hollywood. Yeah this guy was gr8 and so was he.....but who is greater?? Now that is a stupid and pointless question! at no point is kamal claiming some imaginary crown of greatness....read thro the article again...i cant figure out what all this uproar is about!!! Brando is gr8...kamal is gr8....dilip kumar is gr8....many actors are good in their own way.
I am disgusted by so many people making vitriolic attacks on an intelligent and innovative actor.For whatever reason that you do not like him (more as a person may be and not as an actor),that is no reason to make scathing attacks on his skills.
For the people who thinks kamal is over-rated,don't you think there was anything fresh and original with the storyline of hey ram e.g. like a fictitious character in history and virumandi e.g. telling a story from 2 view points..Secondly did kamal himself claim anywhere that his movies are meant to be highly intellectual!!There was some post saying that virumandi was one of the films where he overacted..come on....you cant be serious...Don't you
think the actor modifies his speech and body language according to the role he plays..now how many actors in india can do that...?
When kamal says he is the son of brando, he does not say it satisfy to some ego trip/promote himself and to put himself on the same league of world actors.Please read the article again.He just means that stylistically speaking his induction into his current brand of acting is an outcome of the environment,style and underplay started by brando.
I think of our friends don't know what acting is and also doesn't know how to appreciate a legend. No one can compare our Indian actors with Holloywood Actors but still they(INDIAN Actors) are a league on their own. Kamal is one of the greatest actors of all times. We Indian never belive in our strengths. Example: Mr.Shivaji Ganesan was awarded Chevalier Award by the French. Only after he received that award,he was given Balsaheb Award by the Indian Government. Look at the IIFA Awards. IIFA means International Indian Film Awards but the awards are given only to Bollywood Movies. Does it mean that INDIAN films are only Bollywood? Some of the India's best movies are Bengali,Malayalam,Oriya. I believe in INDIA, still RACIST are alive than in England. I have been in England for years and still I haven't seen a racist but every time I have been in India,I see a racist in everyone. THINK Believe,Respect,Recognize talents from all parts of the country. Jai Hind Venkatesh Krishnan London
RE:KAMAL
by Sudarshan on Jul 10, 2004 11:48 AM
I could not agree more with you, We Indians are fixated by the white man's approval for every thing that we do.
You are right we are racist and the biggest of them all. Probably thats the reason that we flop miserably on the international stage (read Oscar), because we are not sure of ourselves and try to mould ourselves into the white man's specifiations.
Kamal is the most Over-rated actor in Indian film industry.His acting has become Stale and stereo-typed.What has he done other than coming in different get ups.He hasnt shown any variety in acting style or technique.For eg his crying.In all the films starting from punnagai mannan ,nayagan,guna ,kurudhi punal ,hey ram ,alavandan etc he has done the same thing.In films where he has tried to do an old man like Kadal meengal ,Kaidhiyin diary or Indian u cannot see any variety in any of these movies.He has basically spoken in coarse voice.He tries to portary himsel as an intellectual who is cut above the rest.He is neither able to satify the masses or the so called intellectuals.That's why he fails miserably.He is caught in the confusion of trying to bridge commerical cinema and artistic films.All of his recent film are absolute junk.Whether it is Hey ram or Alavandan or virumaandi.Nothing intellectual about any of these films.Kamal is better-off doing comedy roles as long as Crazy mohan has penned the dialogue
RE:Kamal-Over-rated
by mohammed shafeeq on Jul 10, 2004 05:44 PM
i feel kamal is okay acting wise.but cannot be compared to the legend like brando.coz most of kamal,s movies looks like artificial.just by changing voice or getup make u a great actor.
Indians in general confuse and love melodrama or nautanki with acting. This trait is more pronounced in the Southern part of the country. Shivaji Ganesan has displayed some good acting. But most of his work is characterised by melodrama. "Sensitive" performance is not something that one can associate with him as a general trait. As for Kamal Haasan, he has confuses donning different disguises with acting. He is one of the most irritating screen personalities. Look at the majority of his movies and you will see the same style being displayed over and over. Also he seems to love lewd humour. Kamal may call himself anything, including the son of God. But for others to call him the greatest actor etc etc is clearly ridiculous. Look at the roles performed by great actors like Al pacino, Robert de Niro, Jack Lemmon etc and then lets see where Kamal stands in comparison to them. Be objective.
RE:Kamal Haasan
by srinivas on Jul 17, 2004 05:19 AM
Mr.William I totally disagree with u. Kamal hassan is one of the few (or may i say, its just one!)connoisseur of indian cinema . Its not just disguises that makes kamal different. Its the way he acts.U refer to 'indian' Kamal as yet another run-of-the-mill get up.But why did u fail to watch the way he walks in a movie, exactly emulating a 70 year old!. And it really surprises me when u refer kamal's acting as sort of monotonous. Watch the song 'Azahge Azhagu' in 'Raja Paarvai',the way he dubs for the song!. Simply stupendous. So,Mr.William, U dont have to encourage intellects like kamal.But please dont pass pejorative comments like this.
RE:Kamal Haasan
by Ravi on Jul 07, 2004 03:03 AM
And, Mr.William,
Let me recall about De Niro. OK, here it goes - Mean streets, Taxi Driver, Raging bull, Godfather II, Goodfellas, Cape fear, Casino, Jackie Brown, Ronin, Heat, Untouchables so on...he's a great actor, but in most of his good movies, he has acted as a thug/somebody with an element of thuggishness. Even in this movie 'Sleepers', he plays a rough priest! His experiments with comedy - Analyse this, Analyse that, Meet the parents - are just mediocre stuff.
Let me recall a few of Al Pacino movies I've seen - Dog day afternoon, Godfather I,II,III, Devil's Advocate, Carlito's way, Scarface, Donnie Brasco, Serpico, Insomnia - in all these movies he's either a mobster or a cop. In the recent 'The recruit', for a change, he's both a cop and a thug. Except for the highly overrated 'Scent of a woman' and the recent 'Simone', does any other movie come to your mind?
These are the two best Hollywood actors of my generation, there's no second opinion about this - but they are also infected by the 'genre' bug so special to Hollywood. Meet the truth. In considering the variety of roles, they don't stand a chance before Sivaji Ganesan. Of course you have the right to laugh.
Serve rice to an Asian, Serve bread to an European
by Ravi on Jul 07, 2004 02:45 AM
The title of my message will tell you a lot. 'Especially the south', makes movies only for the southern audience. Only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches and where it doesn't. Bergman made movies for the Swedes, Kurosawa for the Japanese, Bunuel about the things he thought right - in whatever setting - Mexican, French, De Sica in Italian, Ray in Bengali, Adoor in Malayalam, Kasaravalli in Kannada, Govind Nihalani in Hindi, Mani Ratnam, Balu Mahendra and Mahendran in Tamil. If you screen 'Wild strawberries' in a remote village in Tamil Nadu, you'll find an empty auditorium halfway through the movie. It is for the sophisticated audience. It wouldn't be a runaway hit in multiplexes of US or Europe, either. So, have no illusions. 'Subtlety' is not a part of Indian culture - Asian culture, to be precise. Even in real life, nobody turns to the wall and bites their lips to control their sorrow - it's just eruption of emotions. It is often said that the west is external and intellectual while the east is internal and intuitive. So...of course, we can't make Cries and whispers, and Bergman can't make Subharna Rekha/Satranj Ke Khilari/Mouna Raagam/Nayakan 'cos the cultures are different
Marlon Brando was a phenomenon, a legend, he had a brash class of his own, not replicated from anyone . Right frm his first hit the "wild one" to "godfather" brando was name that was admired by the whole youth community, as well as old of america. That originality lacks in Kamal hassan. More so Indian actors like him, and rajani do not play matured roles for their ages like amitabh plays for his age in today's movies. Like they simply donot play father's role or matured role to a young heroes like vijay, ajit or someone, which really sucks. At least Amitabh does much admirable job thesedays than other. Indian movies lack originality most of the time. I guess the great writers of the country do not have their voices or there has been dearth of talent in our gr8 country which I doubt. May we have better actors and more original performances than never ending bunch of copycats in our movie industry run by politics. May the ppl be selected on merit and not on politics...
Mr.Kamal Having watched ur filims and ur interviews i have hardly found a difference, infact i find that whenever i watch ur movie, i hardly remember the character that u played, but i've seen only u and that too in ur forceful and full of mannersim that u posses. So i personaly feel that ur statement on underplaying is a big laugh. No doubt that u possess a vast talent in many fields, which most of us Indians galdly acknowledge
RE:Kamal and underplaying! thats a laugh.
by neil on Jul 06, 2004 07:20 PM
hey guys, chill out! i know that Marlon brando is the God of acting , and he s dead. but tht does not mean tht all lesser mortals like kamal hassan r non acheivers. Mr. kamal has infact said tht Marlon brando is way ahead of everyone. so why r ull pouncing on him???? thts d problem wid us indians . we hav a opinion abt everybody, and r born to criticize whether it be sachin tendulkar or amitabh bachan, kamal hassan etc.
