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| June
12, 2008 |
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‘Jack of all trades and master of
many, may be all.’ If this is true
of any one person it has to be the one
and only - Padmashree Dr. Kamal Haasan.
Greatness is not just about how good you
are, it is about how good you continue
to be over years and decades, that separates
the good from the great. Greatness is
about being in the right place, doing
the right things and living a life that
puts the pursuit of perfection at the
top of all priorities. If this is greatness
then Kamal Haasan is surely one of the
greatest that cinema |
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has
seen and will ever see. As his glowing 50 year celluloid life
is poised to hit a crescendo, ready to shine at its brightest,
we thought about taking all Kamal fans back in time- from
the days of the toddler in Kalathur Kannamma, through the
young lad learning the nuances of bharathanatyam, the assistant
dance director, the beginner, the star, the master, the director,
the producer, the visionary- all the way to Universal Star.
Retracing the steps that took the boy from Paramakudi to the
pinnacles of celluloid perfection; Kamal-the making of a legend.
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Some
say, ‘legends are born’. Others beg to differ,
they say ‘legends are made’. When each person
is born they are nothing but a mound of earth waiting
to be molded, a stone waiting to be cut to diamond,
a sapling waiting to be tended. Destiny chooses few
among us to mold, cut and tend to greatness. Kamal Haasan
was one such chosen by the hands of time to be shaped
to hold greatness, not as an ornament or an attainment
but as a way of life. What sets Kamal apart from other
greats is that his greatness neither precedes him nor
follows him, it is a part of him. Each time he performs
it is not his reputation that speaks, it is that performance
which is perfection personified. He does not rest on
laurels nor lives in the past, he strives to construct
monuments through each frame, each shot and each movie.
Everyone has but one masterpiece but Kamal is one whose
career is strewn with masterpieces. ‘Masterpiece-ing’
is just another day in the office for him and now he
awaits us with another masterpiece which we believe
will outdo, outclass and outshine all masterpieces that
have been put before us in the past.
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Dasavatharam, just for the sheer effort that has gone
into its making will be not just a masterpiece but
a masterpiece among the great masterpieces of all
times and that is saying something. All people who
have known Kamal’s work ethic will believe in
the above statement and there is no greater testimony
to a man’s greatness than the faith of the people
in him.
All of us have a calling, a belief that there is purpose
for our existence. Most of us keep looking for it
almost all our lives, some of us are lucky enough
to find it at all. Kamal identified his calling very
early in life. Not many would give up regular schooling
to learn dance, and more importantly, art was something
he loved. Dance and music were his first passions
and film was just a natural progression as the biggest
stage to exhibit one’s art, as an assistant
dance director. But talent as precious as Kamal’s
cannot be confined for long behind the scenes, up
front is where he belonged and that is where destiny
took him. Of course, we are not giving destiny all
the credit for creating Dr. Kamal Haasan. The hero
of this tremendous
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success story is Kamal himself who so gloriously lived the
dream that began with Kalathur Kannamma.
Someone said, ‘destiny is a matter of choice, not
of chance’. In a Harry Potter movie, Albus Dumbledore
says- ‘Its not who we are or what we are that sets
us apart from others, it’s the choices that we make.’
Yes, Kamal’s amazing legacy that is still a work in
progress is all about the right choices being made at the
right times that set him apart from all others. Not everyone
(not anyone) would have dared to play a lame and unkempt
villager trying to woo a girl who so obviously is not interested
in him- Chappani of Pathinaaru Vayadhinile, nor the obsessed
killer of Sigappu Rojakkal or the terminally ill alcoholic
in Vaazhve Mayam. He made choices that were risky but set
him apart. Yes, there have been setbacks but there is never
a high tide unless there is a low tide and in the case of
Kamal, the high tides outnumber the low ten to one. But
for those who have truly appreciated what the genius of
Kamal Haasan means to Indian cinema these numbers hardly
matter. In cricket, commentators often use the phrase ‘Form
is temporary, class is permanent’. Kamal is class
and class cannot be measured, it only can be felt and experienced
each time it makes its presence felt.
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We
have talked about his genius, his seemingly vast and
immense talent, but what made Kamal Haasan the Living
Legend is not his genius or talent. Yes, they played
significant roles but the hero of the Kamal Haasan story
is commitment and hard work, just as it is with all
legends that are and have come to pass. What makes a
man who has 150 movies, 3 national and a bag full of
Filmfare awards, a honorary doctorate, the nations fourth
highest civilian award and the title of Living Legend,
sit still for six hours just to get that perfect look
for a character that will appear for just minutes on
the screen? What drives him to push the frontiers every
time he faces the camera? We might call it the ‘pursuit
of perfection’ and on principle man is not perfectible,
only improvable and Kamal believes in this. That is
why he is like a flowing river that never rests to enjoy
the beautiful scenery that it creates by being there.
The scene is for us to behold, the rivers just flows
along quietly, to its next bank. Kamal creates pieces
of cinematic elegance and beauty for us to marvel, he
moves along to his next and the
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next,
rising higher, pushing harder and getting better. That is
why even before we have seen Dasavatharam we hear about Marmayogi
and that is also why we know that Marudhanayagam will not
forever remain an unaccomplished dream. That is why seven
of his movies have represented India at the Oscars. Not that
we care for an Oscar to recognize the genius of our Universal
Star. Just that there are some people out there who are not
convinced without the numbers. This is proof that Kamal Haasan
is one of Indian cinema’s most valuable assets.
Dasavatharam is almost here and it might be the most appropriate
time to revel in the genius of Kamal. But this is not just
about Dasavatharam or any one movie. Dasavatharam or not,
all that has been said above about Dr. Kamal Haasan holds
true. It is not about 10 roles or one big movie, it is about
the dedication of one man to what he does, the pursuit of
excellence that made him the legend. |
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