He’s one of the most prolific stars of the Indian film industry. An actor who has been entertaining the audience, in many languages, for more than three decades. Born on November 7th, 1954 to D. Srinivasan and Rajalakshmi, this actor has become one of the finest performers around, someone who every Indian cinema buff can be proud of. Yes, Kamal Haasan deserves all this praise and more. Known for his dedication, passion, and unique method of acting, he has earned millions of fans, around the country. On the occasion of his 61st birthday, we share with you some less-known facts about the actor.
1. It’s a well-known fact that Kamal Haasan started his acting career as a child artist, but did you know about the award he won? The young star was the proud winner of the prestigious President’s Gold Medal for his performance in Kalathur Kannamma at age 4. True signs of a child prodigy!
2. Kamal Haasan is the only actor to have won 19 Filmfare awards. He is also the only actor who has received a Best Actor award and a Best Actor in a Supporting Role nomination for the same film (Saagar) at the Filmfare Awards.
3. The film that gave the actor global recognition was Mani Ratnam‘s Tamil film Nayagan (1987), which was also rated by Time magazine as one of the best films in the history of cinema. Phenomenal!
4. Not just acting, Kamal Haasan has fantastic dancing skills as well. The actor has choreographed for MGR in Naan Yen Piranthen, Sivaji Ganesan in Savaale Samaali, and Jayalalitha in Anbu Thangai. Beat that!
5. Kamal Haasan is well-known for his humanitarian efforts. Haasan was the first Tamil actor to convert his fan clubs into welfare organizations. He was also awarded the first Abraham Kovoor National Award for his efforts in 2004.
6. Kamal Haasan became the highest paid actor from 1988-1998. He also became the first Indian actor to get INR 1 crore as his remuneration for a single film, in 1994. Earlier this record was held by the legendary actors Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan.
7. Besides Tamil and Hindi, Kamal Haasan has starred in Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Bengali films as well.
8. We all loved Kamal Haasan’s performance in Aalavandhan, but we weren’t the only ones who were impressed. In an interview with Anurag Kashyap, Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino said he was inspired by this film. Kamal Haasan has used graphic sequences to capture violence in several scenes in the film. Apparently, Tarantino had seen this and was inspired to use manga comics for his Kill Bill series, for the most gruesome scenes, as the ace director told Anurag Kashyap.
By Raisa Nasreen