India Today – August 13, 2018

40 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 13, 2018

“It’s not about power.

I am challenging

the status quo”

How has India evolved since Vishwaroopam

(2013)?

Like always, at any given time, there is regres-

sion and progression. This time, disturbingly,

we are going towards regressive, not constructive, debate.

Arguments now are taken to a shriller pitch than before.

Q. Vishwaroopam faced flak for its depiction of Muslims.

A. It’s about a sleeper agent from India who happens to be

Muslim. You are fed the Muslim stereotype so much and the

communal disturbances and the shrill voice of dissent, you

forget to see the story. He is an Indian first. I don’t have a re-

ligion at all. Tell me how many people are bold enough to say

that in 2018. I am setting an example. Many people are ready

to say it, but are worried because of lumpen intervention.

Q. You have acted, written, directed, choreographed and

produced films. Which role do you enjoy the most?

A. Being the audience. It’s best to suspend disbelief and

watch a movie; it doesn’t matter who made it. It happens

for two to three minutes and I am a happy man, especially

if it’s my movie. Acting was never my first love, I was a most

reluctant actor. If not for Mr [K.] Balachander (director of

Apoorva Raagangal, Ek Duuje Ke Liye), I wouldn’t be here.

I enjoyed dancing but then I thought it wasn’t as versatile a

medium as cinema. Learning Bharatanatyam did give me

an edge like any cultural education does.

Q. Some have criticised your hosting Bigg Boss Tamil.

A. I want to reach my people through the popular platform.

Compared to the Hindi show and Big Brother in UK, ours

isn’t an animal at all. They want shades of others but the

audience doesn’t like it. They tell me I should have done

Satyamev Jayate [Aamir Khan show]. I said it doesn’t

matter because I do it in life. Ultimately it doesn’t matter

where Gandhiji brought about a change.

Q. When did you realise Balaram Naidu [a RAW opera-

tive from Haasan-directed Dasavathaaram] deserved a

movie of his own?

A. I found that whichever language you translate it in,

he just glides in. We have almost come close to Clouseau

[popular character from the Pink Panther movies]. I am

a great fan of Peter Sellers.

Q. It’s also the first time you are directing your eldest, Shruti.

A. Very difficult. She has no awe, she has seen this man sleep-

ing bare-chested in the house, snoring (laughs).

As the producer, director, writer, actor, co-choreographer of

Vishwaroopam 2, KAMAL HAASAN is on a promotional spree for

what is touted to be his third last film before he retires from cinema. In a

50-minute chat with SUHANI SINGH and AMARNATH K. MENON,

Haasan talks about movies, his hero Mahatma Gandhi, his party—

Makkal Needhi Maiam—and reveals why politics was his true

calling. Excerpts from the interview

INTERVIEW / KAMAL HAASAN

Q.