Cinema is not popcorn: Kamal Haasan

Kamal Haasan’s Viswaroopam 2 (Vishwaroop II in Hindi) is to hit the marquees soon. The film may redefine his life, film career and budding political career. The movie may be viewed as Kamal the politician’s movie. But at heart, the stalwart matinee star, into his sixth decade in films, is an intense film maker who is very conscious of the medium and conscientious in how he makes his films or acts in them. And he says it as he sees it today, even to the extent of criticising Kollywood , the cinema suburb that made him into the star he is now and also, perhaps, the politician he wants to be.

Asked at what stage did he realise that the Viswharoopam 2 story needed to be told, he says, “I did not stop writing. There was a limitation.  I brought the new thing called ‘page a minute’ format. You have to think a script in terms of minute and screen time. Around 1990, I went and took training in Hollywood on this. It is a technique that you have to arrive at. We have limitations as screenwriters here. There was no cinema education. Industry used to be run by hands-on cinema.  Now it is purely moneybags that drive the market. So, they water down the music, script, want 6 songs, 4 fights and they call it commercial demand.  They connect cinema with popcorn. I am not making fun. They force all these on audiences, who may or may not want them. So, these pressures really affect screen writers.”

He quickly adds that it took 30 years for him to understand to come somewhere close to what he would have liked to have done when he was 25 years old. “Cinema education is necessary. My education did not come from Kodambakkam. I had to go outside, remove myself from here and see how silly we are. That happened even with younger audiences. They are bold and walk away from regular cinema.”

Asked if Vishwaroopam would reflect the present political climate, he quips, “Fortunately, this is what Mr Cho did when he did 30thyear of Tughlaq. It was still relevant then, they said. Thanks to politicians - they have not changed. I have not changed my play. They are still as corrupt and as stupid so that my play works as a great satire now. The same thing applies for Viswaroopam, it will apply even after 5 years. As long we have great leaders like Trump and they want to build defence corridors to save a country”.  

This is the first film hitting the marquee after Kamal turned full-fledged politician and having to raise his voice for various causes and issues. Will it be a plus or minus to him?

“I don’t know it could be plus or minus. I am not looking at it that way. But this is a film I made much before I entered active politics. That does not mean the film is devoid of politics.  It talks even broader politics even if it is limited to street-by-street battle. Geo politics is country to country. This is street-by-street battle where they go by community, caste and they will go by anything. This battle in not considered politics. That’s why I call myself as politi-culturist. For 40 years, I have been an armchair politician”.

Talking about how Pooja’s character which had the extramarital tinge angle to it been dealt with in part 2 he said, “Her character is in complete denial as who he is and in fact both mine as well as hers had a dark secret to them. And in part 2, they come to understand each other and the transition takes place”.

Reacting to a query on if audiences would connect the sequel with the first film, he says,  “There’s no second film at all as far as we are concerned.  It is a continuous story. Unfortunately, for you (audiences), there happened to be a gap. Yes, we have taken care of it through the dynamics of the screenplay.  Even if it happens to be the first film you watch you will see it as a ‘standalone’ movie. All said and done, what we have not done is lean on the glory of one (first movie).”

Being the writer-director of Vishwaroopm, he says his comments during the protest against the first movie was misconstrued and created a storm then. “I had said that I would leave Tamil Nadu since as a creator my artistic freedom was curtailed.  I said such an act was a shame on the ruling government. That was what I meant when I said that in a statement”.

The actor asserts he would honour his earlier filmy commitments like Sabaash Naidu and Indian 2 and even think of his pet project Maruthanayagam. “After all, I also want to make money for my party and myself,” he says and signs off with a smile.  Music composer Ghibran, actresses Pooja and Andrea were present on the occasion.