If Kamal had played Kabali

Water cooler conversations between two fanboys who take their cinema way too seriously... and are unapologetic about it.

November 05, 2016 03:26 pm | Updated December 02, 2016 01:42 pm IST

CHENNAI, 20/08/2014: Actor Kamal Haasan during an interview to The Hindu at his Alwarpet residence in Chennai on August 20, 2014. 
Photo: S_R_Raghunathan

CHENNAI, 20/08/2014: Actor Kamal Haasan during an interview to The Hindu at his Alwarpet residence in Chennai on August 20, 2014. Photo: S_R_Raghunathan

SR: What’s happening with Kamal Haasan? I’ve been getting so many messages and memes about something that should remain strictly personal. He celebrates his birthday tomorrow, and it is konjam sad that all we’re talking about is his life off screen…

VM: Let’s not discuss that. He is, after all, a man who has given us films that we could talk about for a lifetime. I wish we could instead discuss his next two films, but they somehow don’t seem very exciting. Why is it so?

SR: Well, Sabaash Naidu has been facing one issue after another. The director fell ill, and then, Kamal fractured his leg. We can only hope that it’ll get completed soon. As for Vishwaroopam II , no one seems to know what’s happening.

VM: Sabaash Naidu, even as a spin-off character, isn’t nearly as exciting as Kamal’s other avatars such as Kameshwaran ( Michael Madana Kama Rajan ) , Senapathy ( Indian ) or Avvai Shanmughi ( Avvai Shanmughi ) . And for a sequel, Vishwaroopam II isn’t really the most eagerly awaited. Tell me one thing… why is it that when we talk about Rajini, Vijay or Ajith, we always talk about their next film, but when it’s Kamal, we generally stick to his greater films from the 80s or 90s?

SR: He was ahead of his times, for one, and has done radical subjects that he needs to keep bettering. While Vijay needs to compete with Ajith and Dhanush with Simbu, Kamal has just one person to compete with: himself. After all, he played 10 roles in Dasavatharam …. that’s three years’ worth of acting for the other stars.

VM: That again is a film of the past! I can’t think of a recent film of his that brought him a new set of young fans. Do you think the trick is to work with younger filmmakers?

SR: Well, if Rajini can, why can’t Kamal?

VM: Oh really? Ok, let me put it this way… if you had Rs. 200 crore and bulk dates of the Ulaganayagan, who’d your director be?

SR: Karthik Subbaraj, without doubt. He’s three films old, and is all set to get to the big league. When he can extract extraordinary performances from ordinary actors, there are no limits to what he can achieve with Kamal.

VM: Rs. 200 crore will be tough to exhaust, even for Karthik Subbaraj! I’d love to see Karthik give Kamal a complex, negative character... perhaps the role of a politician?

SR: I doubt if that film will ever get released…

VM: Ha ha ha. My choice will have to be Vetrimaaran. With his first two films being with Dhanush, along with a trilogy to follow with him, I feel his whole filmography has been limited to one actor. Their collaboration can result in a seriously unforgettable work of art, and perhaps Kamal’s fourth National Award for Best Actor!

SR: That’d be awesome. I love how Vetrimaaran writes characters and not heroes. Remember how well the character arc of Pettaikaran panned out in Aadukalam ? It’d be interesting to see Kamal in a mature, non-hero role such as that, which is set in Madurai.

VM: If I get Rs.200 crore, I’d get Mysskin to shoot a film for Rs. 5 crore and keep the rest of the money! Imagine the tone of extreme darkness he could have lent to a film like Aalavandhan .

SR: I’m not too sure I want to see a sequel of that film. He has so many new-age filmmakers to choose from now.

VM: He can even act in a big-budget time travel film, directed by an Anand Shankar or an Atlee. What was Iru Mugan but a mash-up of Kamal’s own Vikram ?

SR: Aaha. Was there a film from recent times that you’d have liked to see Kamal in?

VM: I could get killed for saying this, but I thought he too could have played a damn good Kabali.

SR: He’d have totally rocked the scene in which Kabali reunites with his wife. He’d have made us cry even more. But I’m not too sure if he’d fit in with a ‘Neruppu Da’…

VM: Why insist on him working with new directors? Can’t time-tested combinations work too? Right up on any Tamil film fan’s wishlist is the biggest dream combination of all time.

SR: And what would that be?

VM: Kamal as a villain in a Mani Ratnam directorial starring... Rajinikanth!

SR: So a Thalapathy meets Nayakan , eh?

VM: You catch my point?

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