Kamal Hassan and Venkatesh are pairing up for the first time for Eenadu, which is the remake of a successful Bollywood film A Wednesday. Final touches are being made for the movie, which is being produced simultaneously in Tamil and Telugu languages and it is slated for release on September 18. In the Tamil version, Mohanlal is replacing Venkatesh and it is being released uder the title Unnaipol Oruvan. Amma Art Creations led by G Kumarbabu bagged the distribution rights for the Telugu version.

Giving details, Kumarbabu said, “Though there is a tough competition for the Telugu version distribution, we are fortunate enough for bagging the opportunity. We have offered a fancy rate for the release rights in Telugu. We thank Kamal Hassan and Chandra Hassan for their co-operation in this regard. We are planning to launch the audio during this month and release the film on September 18.”

UTV and Raj Kamal Films International are jointly producing the film while Chakri Tholeti has wielded the megaphone.
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Source: http://entertainment.oneindia.in/telugu/top-stories/2009/eenadu-film-release-200809.html

THE QUINTESSENTIAL COP

Back here, in Tamil cinema, films where prominent actors play the cop role are looked at as an 'occasion'. - A celebration of sorts. These are also used as a benchmark to judge performances and for many actors, cop movies have gone on to become memorable check points in their career. Kamal has done a fair share of police based cinema and has come up triumphs more often than not. In this article we zoom in on a couple of his very special portrayals and run through the rest of his "police career"

Adhi narayanan is a class act. Kamal's body language throughout the film adapts itself to the changing character sketch. The strict and confident police officer who later finds himself in a desperate losing situation couldn't have found a better face on silver screen. Kamal's uses subdued facial expressions to great effect in the interrogative scenes. The tension builds up because the audience is not sure of what the calm interrogating officer may do the next moment. The effect would have flown off had Kamal been just another cop shouting like a mad man at Nasser. Kamal's unique coarse voice is a huge plus too. Some of the most unforgettable moments from the film include the scene where Kamal utters the famous "Everyone has a breaking Point" line dialogue ;

The scene where Kamal tells his son that he was only kissing his mother ( If this is not natural acting, then what is?) ; The sequence where Kamal declares to Gauthami that he is losing the war and of course the extremely goose bumpy climax sequence. The climax in particular deserves one separate article on it. This is what I had written about that scene in one of my past write ups :- " that coarse yet high pitched voice, that blood painted face, that broken tooth, those eyes and he goes SHOOT ME MY MAN, SHOOT ME, MY MAN - MY BOY , SHOOT ME - AND THATS A BLOODY ORDER - as a viewer u feel, yes, this is the ultimatum, any actor can't thrill u more than this, and u surrender completely to adinarayanan,."

(As told by the director) Though the movie was actually starts from the finger hanging scene, the initial karka karka song and the intro-scenes are tribute to kamalhaasan from one of his big fan – the director of the movie, Gautham himself.

When I first met Raghavan, He came across as a poor shadow of Adi Narayanan. I wasn't satisfied with what saw till his wife got kidnapped. Then the real scenes of the movie started to flow and there he was, Playing his age, Body language intact, Expressions in place. Raghavan had arrived. The one-hand push up cum tape recorder scene is probably as authentic as it can get. The fact that a cop speaks more with the body and less with the mouth is re established with Kamal's portrayal in this pic. Looking at him perform is such a relief when compared to other policemen - heroes of Tamil Cinema who dance, crack jokes and deliver punch dialogues at the drop of an eyelid. It takes the consistency out of the character and that is something Kamal has tried his best to maintain in the film even though the screenplay subjects Raghavan to an unnecessary duet in the middle of the second half.

Adi and Raghavan made a major mark, but each took at least two and half hours to do it. One police officer required only ten minutes. In those ten minutes, he played the feared cop and the lovable husband and came up with a gamut of brilliant expressions when being killed. His name is Sethupathy - The father of a couple of 'aboorva sahodrargal'. This stunning cop-cameo apart, Kamal perfectly cast himself as Indian James Bond in Vikram,. He also played the best looking cop in the history of Tamil Cinema in Soora Samharam and looked equally great in Oru Kaidhiyin Dairy. Balram Naidu is also from RAW but his role was more humour and less police. So we will talk about that portrayal some other time.

In Dasavatharam's Audio Launch, Hero Vijay made a note of the saying that 'Even real life cops look at kamal'spolice films to see what kind of body language is to be used' . Though this line was meant more as a symbolic reference, I sometimes think there is nothing wrong if such a situation were to crop up. The law will find itself in safer hands. Because in Kamal, Tamil Cinema finds its quintessential cop. The one whose very posture is symbolic with strength, intelligence, chivalry and passion.

SOURCE: kamalhaasanvideoblog

KAMAL HAASAN AND THE HERO-ACTOR CRISIS

Rajinikanth, Vijay, Stallone, Schwarzeneggar, and as the long list would go on , are 'heroes'. They repeatedly play characters that have super powers to bash up all the bad men on the earth. These are stars whom the kids and the masses love. No one looks at the actor or even the person in these stars. They only see the 'hero' in them. Watching these superstars perform is like looking at a your favourite WWE wrestler pin down his opponents. Their performances either have too many expressions or there is a complete lack of them. One can't really call it even acting per se. Mindless, but fun - guaranteed.

Sivaji Ganesan, Nasseruddin Shah, Nagesh, Nana Patekar, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman , Tom hanks and as the not so big list would go on, are 'actors'. They don't have a following among the kids, masses and the front benches. They are purely a connoisseur's delight. They are performers and every film critique would love to write a tribute to their works These are people who literally live the character that they play and bring out a huge variety of emotions on screen. Watching them perform is like watching an artist paint a beautiful portrait of a character that is in his mind.

Where would you place Kamal Haasan in this classification? Is he a hero who also acts or is he an actor who is also a brand/franchise? The issue is slightly complex and has been primarily responsible for an audience that is often confused with its opinion on Kamal Haasan. Even among his die hard fans there is a confusion. While one set would prefer Mahanadi to Avvai shanmukhi any day, the other would want to see more Dasavatharams and less of Gunas. The reason for all this is that Kamal has done it all. Been everywhere, seen everything.

In fact in1981-82, he acted in a film that fetched him the national award for that year (moondram pirai) and also in another movie which was the biggest commercial blockbuster of that year (sagalakalavallavan). Just that in 1996, the wiser kamal haasan combined both these tasks in one single film. (Indian)

So here is a look at kamal the hero - who has given the masses unlimited entertainment, and kamal the actor who has given my pen a thousand words to write . And also, a fascinating combination of both.

1) KAMAL THE HERO - If you go to a village or a small town and ask people why they love 'kamala' haasan (Many women still refer to him like that), they would tell u stories of his sagalakalavallavan where he looked awesome, danced like a dream , sang, jumped, waved, made fun and finally tricked the wrong man into the climax trap. They will talk to you about guru, simla special, oru kaidhiyin diary, vetrivizha, sathya,vikram, soora samharam and the likes - movies where the hero kamal has done everything that is expected of any other on screen super hero.

2) KAMAL THE ACTOR - This one, as I said, is for the puritans. It is not simply that they call kamal the finest actor in India. They have gems like moondram pirai, saagara sangamam,saagar, nayagan, pushpak, michael madana kamarajan, guna, devar magan, mahanadi, kurudhipunal, heyram, anbesivam, virumandi and many more to support their arguments. In these movies kamal has been thoroughly brilliant with his unmatchable display of a gamut of emotions. Rarely can u see both brilliance and versatility and brilliant versatility in one single actor's performances. Kamal is that rare impersonator, who flawlessly imitates every character that is written for him in the script.

3) KAMAL THE ACTOR, WHILE BEING KAMAL THE HERO - "Commercial classic". Ever heard of this phrase? It is a form of cinema that kamal has continuously indulged in throughout his career. These films have everything that a tamil producer wants (read, comedy,action, sentiment, all in one) and along with these, they have a sensational performance from the male lead. Aboorva sahodrargal, Indian, Chachi 420, Dasavatharam - All fall into this very special category - Some thing no other Actor has really managed to achieve.

SOURCE: kamalhaasanvideoblog

THE SUPREME PEN WHICH HAD INK OF EVERY OTHER COLOUR

This is the story of a pen that was born in 1981. It was a Dustin Hoffman fan back then. So it included a sweet little tribute to "graduate" in its adaptation of 'Butterflies Are Free'. As expected, the pen - which was also a highly rated actor by then had casted itself in the lead in this , which was then a small budget experimental cinema but is now considered path breaking. The subtle romance of Raajaparvai was just the perfect way for Kamal Haasan to launch his career in screenwriting. A career that 28 years later stands tall as one of the country's best.

A few malayalam scripts and some unofficial screenplays later, Kamal collaborated with Sujatha to come up with the proper Indian combination of Indiana Jones and James Bond - From Credits to BGM to Action sequences and the plot as a whole, Vikram arrived on the Indian Screens, technically awesome but with too many loose ends. A work which any screenwriter of Kamal's standard can not be proud of. However, as we later realised, Kamal was only preparing for something much much bigger.

Another collaboration with a person known to have written 'only' hit movies. It was a perfect match. While Panchu Arunachalam took care of the 'mass - pulse', Kamal brought in sequences which were a complete treat to any lover of great cinema. Aboorva Sahodrargal was a money making masterpiece / A commercial Classic / The pinnacle of mass+class/ The ultimate movie making output. And with this movie started the trend. A series of screenplays which take their sweet time to first get into the feel and later race off at an exhilarating pace, often ending with a complex chase in areas with heavy traffic. It had become the Kamal Stamp. Driving the car with the screenplay in the back seat and accelerating the vehicle into a bridge only to break off and free fall into the sea. But Aboorva Sahodrargal was very special. A comic take on the investigating policeman cliche and a sad tale of love failure injected into what was primarily a story of full blooded revenge.

Commerce Done. It was time now for Self Indulgence. Four Years. Four Films. Such amazing displays of mastery over the way the pen is to be handled. Stunning Variety too. What colours ! There is comedy supreme, psychedelia delusional, drama burning hot and tragedy unbearable. Micheal Madana Kamarajan, Guna, Devar Magan and Mahanadi are screenplays whose quality,tautness,variety and supremacy can simply not be matched. At least not in Indian Cinema yet. Michael Madana Kamarajan may look simple on screen. But the flow from one character to the other and the final connectors are not easy to represent. It is done in such a subtle manner that one is made to believe that is the only way the story can move. There is class written all over this super efficient screenplay. Then there is Guna - A peek into the delusional world. A simple story laced with ironies galore and some very tough to write sequences. Guna still stands tall as one of Tamil Cinema's very unique and special films. Devar Magan is in a different league altogether. Definitely One of the very few adaptations of Godfather that Puzo and Coppola would actually be proud of. A high voltage Drama that has clinical intensity "written" all over it. Voted once among the most Important Tamil Films of all time, Devar Magan owes its everything to the tight narrative. Then of course we have the true masterpiece. The gut wrencher. The soul stirrer. The movie through which Kamal splashes all the ink from his pen on the audience. Till they have no option but to cry. Mahanadi is just as great as any story can get. Even on book, Even without kamal's histrionics on screen, Mahanadi will make you cry. Such is the agony in the tale. He had reached unimaginable screenwriting heights by this time.

Post Mahanadi and Pre Hey Ram ( can be ranked number one and two among his works) , came magalir mattum (why kamal, why? ( chal its okay. it was at least well indianized) , Nammavar(WOW) and Kadala Kadala ( You are getting to form Boss) from Kamal's pen. Among these, Nammavar is a very very special film. A very well knit plot which impressed me particularly with its minor but very necessary references to the student life of the protagonist assistant professor.

Then Brilliant ink started to flow again. It was now getting very complicated - dishing out masterpiece after masterpiece. Each one jam packed with multi layered themes, hard hitting ironies, convoluted themes, intelligent sub-plots and endless wit. Hey Ram, Aalavandaan,Virumandi and Anbe Sivam were such stunning products. Leaving out Aalavandaan( the screenplay which kamal thinks is warped, was written by him way back in the eighties during his mumbai days), the other three plots must have taken months of staggering research and hardwork to have materialized. Hey Ram which hits you on your face with almost every element of its story is among the most thought provoking films I have ever seen. Writing Virumaandi and making it visibly different from Roshomon should be included as the final question in an examination for picking the best screenwriter of the world. Anbe Sivam with its themes are no less either. So many issues, both burning and old, beamed onto big screen through a very simple story of two different men travelling together. Masterful is THE word.

Mumbai Express was unique and Dasavatharam was the most toughest of the lot. The latter had a flourish of just unimaginable witty dialogues. An separate article on his dialogue writing is a must. And one on Dasavatharam Dialogues alone is confirmed for sure. But I must confess, It gave me great joy and goosebumps rewinding through the career of one of the country's best screenwriters EVER. And if you still do not agree. The challenege is always open. Show me the Intensity, Show me the Variety and Show me the supremacy. I doubt if you can.

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SOURCE: kamalhaasanvideoblog