Kasthuri Daily Serial – E 406 – 28th Feb

Universal hero Kamal Haasan needs no introduction. He is arguably the best actor the country has produced and he is a man of many talents. As we know, he is currently doing ‘Indian 2’ which is a sequel to ‘Indian’ which came in the 90s. It was the first collaboration of top director Shankar and Kamal Haasan. The movie was a blockbuster and the strong social message hit the right chord with the audience.

Shankar is known for his commercially grand movies which deal with serious issues in society. Right from his first movie ‘Gentleman’, he followed the same path. Though ‘Gentleman’ was a huge success, Kamal said in an old interview that he rejected it when Shankar approached him that story. As we know, ‘Gentleman’ is a movie that deals with a Brahmin boy becoming a vigilante and stealing from the rich in order to build an education institute as his friend commits suicide for not getting high marks in the education system whereas others get a seat due to reservation.

Kamal said, “If I have differences of opinion and ideologies with films, I have said I can’t do it and have steered away from projects. For example, initially, Shankar’s Gentleman had a different story. It was about the militancy of a Brahmin boy. I said I can’t do this and refused. I also asked him to change the story even if he was going to do it. And I realized that’s what they had done.”

When asked about okaying ‘Indian’ with the same director, he said, “As far as Indian goes, it dealt with problems I faced in my real life. You can’t do a film without having a connection with its ideology. It will then become extremely difficult to get up early at 4 AM and go for shooting without eating. You can’t do all that for a film that you don’t like. Though I had a few issues with the film, I was sure that people would accept it. I found the tone of fascism was a bit high in the film. Other than that, I like the film. The film is a dream of many citizens–a hope that kind of justice is possible.”

‘Indian 2’ has been in the making for a long time and it is expected to hit the screens in June 2024.