Kamal Haasan / Ulaga Nayagan

Kamal Haasan Bio

Kamal Haasan is an Indian film actor and director, considered among the leading method actors of Tamil cinema. In addition to acting and directing, he is a screenwriter, lyricist, playback singer and choreographer. His film production company, Rajkamal International, has produced several of his films. Kamal Haasan made his film debut as a 6-year-old child artiste, in the 1960 film, Kalathur Kannamma, directed by A. Bhimsingh. He was cast along with the veteran Tamil actor Gemini Ganesan in the film, which won him the National Film Award for Best Child Artist. He acted as a child actor in five other Tamil films in the subsequent few years co-starring with popular actors at the era, including Sivaji Ganesan and M. G. Ramachandran. Kamal Haasan's breakthrough into lead acting came with his role in the 1975 drama, Apoorva Raagangal, in which he played a rebellious youth in love with an older woman. Kamal Haasan's frequent collaboration with K. Balachander, has led to him being featured in socially-themed films such as Avargal (1977). The film won Haasan his first Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award. In 1976, Haasan appeared in the drama Moondru Mudichu with Rajinikanth and Sridevi, another film by K. Balachander. Oru Oodhappu Kan Simittugiradhu and 16 Vayathinile, directed by K. Balachander won him his second consecutive Best Actor Award and third consecutive award. The fourth consecutive award came with Sigappu Rojakal in which he appeared in a negative role as a psychopathic sexual killer. Kamal's 100th career film appearance was in 1981's Raja Paarvai, which also marked his debut as a film producer. Despite the film's relatively poor reception at the cinemas, his portrayal of a blind session violinist earned him a Filmfare Award. Kamal Haasan also began to appear in more Hindi language films such as Saagar, which won him both the Filmfare Best Actor Award as well as the Best Supporting Actor Award, making him the first actor to win both awards for a single film in the award's history. Following more successful film such as Punnagai Mannan, in which he portrays dual roles including a satire of Charlie Chaplin and Vetri Vizha as an amnesiac, Kamal's most worldwide recognized role came in Mani Rathnam's 1987, Nayagan. Nayagan, commonly known as "The Godfather" of Tamil cinema, features the life of an underworld don in Bombay. The story revolves around the life of a real-life underworld don called Varadarajan Mudaliar, whilst sympathetically depicting the struggle of South Indians living in Mumbai. The film helped Kamal Haasan secure a Indian National Award for his performance and Nayagan was nominated by India as its entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards in 1987 as well as being included in the Time top 100 movies list. In 1988, Haasan appeared in his only silent film to date; appearing in the black comedy, Pushpak, which was dubbed as a "speechless classic" with reviewers stating that "Haasan surpasses himself", delivering an all time best performance. The 1990s saw Kamal breaking out of the romantic hero mould to explore some unconventional roles. In 1991 film Michael Madhana Kamarajan, he acted in four different roles as quadruplets. Kamal also won successive best actor awards for his portrayal of the protagonist in Guna and in Thevar Magan, where he played the son of noted actor, Sivaji Ganesan. He won his third National Film award for Best Actor in the film Indian. Playing dual roles of a freedom fighter and his son, the film also won Haasan regional awards and plaudits for his portrayal in the blockbuster. Kamal Haasan soon made his debut as director with a remake of Avvai Shanmughi in Hindi titled Chachi 420, which became a success upon release. Kamal Haasan's direction was praised and his performance was applauded as brilliant. His second directorial venture was Hey Ram, a period drama told in flashback with a semi-fictional plot centering around India's Partition and the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. Haasan also donned technical roles as the writer, the lyricist and the choreographer as well as producing the film under his home banner. Kamal Haasan also directed Virumaandi in 2004. Virumaandi became the first Tamil film to feature different sides of the story, surrounding the controversy of the death penalty. Haasan's directorial work earned him rave reviews. Kamal Hassan is known for winning several Indian film awards, including National Film Awards and Filmfare Awards, and has the distinction of being the actor with the most number of films submitted by India in contest for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.