I want to remain Balachander’s best disciple: Kamal

My career would have certainly taken a different course had my mentor K. Balachander not spotted me, said actor Kamal Haasan on Sunday.

At the audio launch of Uttama Villain here, Kamal said, “All of us know he shaped both Rajinikanth and me. Rajinikanth would have made it even without K. Balachander. But I would have just remained a fan without my guru K. Balachander.”

“He is a

mahaguru for many of us. I was honoured to act with him in

Uttama Villain . I will continue his work,” said Kamal, adding, “I want to remain his best disciple all my life.”

Pointing to the first scene between Balachander and Kamal in the film, director Ramesh Aravind said, “It will be one of the best moments of Tamil cinematography.”

“We have condensed 80,000 hours of sweat into a two-and-a-half hour film. Brilliant screenplay has offered a thematic link between a 20th century story and an eight century tale. It is a social drama as well as a musical comedy. Here is a film all of us will be proud of,” the director said.

Music director Ghibran said the film boasts of various layers of musicals including neoclassical aspects.

Uttama Villain  marks the final screen appearance of Kamal’s mentor and veteran director Balachander, who died on December 23, 2014.