Kamal Haasan Biography, Movies, Family, Net Worth, Awards And More!
Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954 ), is an Indian film actor, director, screenwriter, producer, playback singer and lyricist who works primarily in Tamil cinema. Kamal has won several film awards including three National Film Awards, the second highest by any Indian actor, and nineteen Filmfare Awards. His production company, Rajkamal International, has produced several of his films.
Kamal Haasan’s Early life
Kamal Haasan was born in a prominent Tamil family in Ramanathapuram, Madras State. His father’s name is D. Srinivasan, who was a lawyer and his mother Rajalakshmi was a housewife. Kamal
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is the youngest child in his family. His brothers Charuhasan (born 1930) and Chandrahasan (born 1936) are lawyers as well; the former became an actor during the late 1980s. Kamal’s sister, Nalini (born 1946), is a classical dancer.
He received his primary education in Paramakudi before moving to Madras (now Chennai) as his brothers pursued their higher education. Kamal continued his education in Santhome, Madras, and was attracted towards film and fine arts as encouraged by his father. When a physician friend of his mother, visited Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar (AVM) to treat his wife, she brought Kamal with her. Apparently impressed by his demeanor AVM’s son, M. Saravanan, recommended him for their production Kalathur Kannamma.
Kamal Haasan’s Career
2010–present
Kamal collaborated for the fifth time with Ravikumar in Manmadan Ambu, for which he also wrote the screenplay. The story concerns a man who hires a detective to find out if his fiancée is cheating on him. The film was released in December 2010 to mixed reviews, with Behindwoods calling it “an entertainer, but in parts” and Sify saying it “lacks the punch to captivate the audiences”.
Kamal’s next film after Manmadhan Ambu was 2013’s Vishwaroopam, released in Hindi as Vishwaroop. It won two National Film Awards (Best Production Design and Best Choreography) at the 60th National Film Awards. In May 2014, he was appointed as the official Indian delegate to the 67th Cannes Film Festival. As of July 2014, he was working on three films: Uthama Villain, Vishwaroopam II, the sequel of Vishwaroopam[58] and Papanasam.[59] After 2 years of Vishwaroopam’ s release, Uttama Villain was released on 2 May 2015 with exceptional critical reviews and on 3 July 2015, Papanasam a Tamil remake of Malayalam film Drishyam[60] was released with positive reviews and became a huge success followed by the bi-lingual Thoongaa Vanam and Cheekati Rajyam, both doing moderate business.
Off-screen contributions
In addition to acting, Kamal is noted for his involvement in other aspects of filmmaking. He has written many of his films, including Raja Paarvai, Apoorva Sagodharargal, Michael Madhana Kamarajan, Thevar Magan, Mahanadhi, Hey Ram, Aalavandhan, Anbe Sivam, Nala Damayanthi, Virumaandi, Dasavathaaram, Manmadhan Ambu and Vishwaroopam. Kamal’s production company (Rajkamal International) has produced several of his films, and he directed Chachi 420, Hey Ram, Virumaandi and Vishwaroopam. He considered directing full-time if Hey Ram was successful, but changed his mind when the film failed at the box office. In his earlier career, he has also choreographed for MGR in Naan Yen Pirandhen, Sivaji Ganesan in Savaale Samaali and Jayalalithaa in Anbu Thangai In 2010 Kamal said he wanted to do more directing, since young actors wished to work for him.
When he played supporting roles early in his career he wanted to become a technician, and joked: “Film makers like K. Balachander told me that I won’t be able make much money by being a technician. So the end result is that the star Kamal funds the technician Kamal in pursuing his dreams”. Kamal attended workshops for makeup technicians in the US for several years, and trained as a makeup artist under Michael Westmore.
Kamal has also written songs for his films. He wrote the lyrics for a single in Hey Ram, songs in Virumaandi and Unnaipol Oruvan and the album for Manmadhan Ambu. Kamal’s musical work has been well received by his peers in Tamil film. He is also a playback singer, singing in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and English. Currently Kamal is part of the Mission “Clean India” set by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Kamal Haasan’s Personal life
Family
Kamal was born into a Tamil family in the town of Paramakudi, in the Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu, to criminal defense lawyer D. Srinivasan and Rajalakshmi a housewife. During a 2013 appearance on an episode of Neengalum Vellalam Oru Kodi, he stated that his parents originally named him Parthasarathy and his mother always used to call him by that name. In an interview with Karan Thapar, Kamal said his father was literate in Sanskrit. Kamal was the youngest of four children; his siblings are Charuhasan, Chandrahasan and Nalini (Raghu). His two older brothers followed their father’s example and studied law.
Kamal has alluded to his parents in some of his works, notably Unnaipol Oruvan and in the song “Kallai Mattum” in Dasavathaaram. His oldest brother Charuhasan, like Kamal, is a National Film Award-winning actor who appeared in the Kannada film Tabarana Kathe. Charuhasan’s daughter Suhasini is also a National Film Award winner married to director (and fellow award-winner) Mani Ratnam, who collaborated with Kamal on 1987’s Nayakan.
Chandrahasan has produced several of Kamal’s films and was an executive with Rajkamal International, he died in March 2017. Chandrahasan’s daughter Anu Hasan has had supporting roles in several films, including Suhasini’s Indira. Kamal’s sister, Nalini Raghu, is a dance teacher for whom he named an auditorium (Nalini Mahal). Her son, Gautham, played Kamal’s grandson in “Hey Ram”.