Kamal is the only actor in Indian cinema who has transcended borders with ease. He is the only actor who had done meaningful roles successfully in languages other than his main stay language. Apart from Tamil, Kamal has done films in Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi and Bengali. Here is how Kamal made his mark in other languages.
Kamal's first non-Tamil venture was in Malayalam. That was a transition period in the life of Kamal and Malayalam got the privilege of making Kamal a solo hero even before Tamil could. This was remembered by actor Jayaram at the Kamall-50 celebrations recently. He proudly said "we made him a hero even before you did". A missed opportunity then, but we made amendments later.
Kamal's tryst with Malayalam started even as he was a child. He first played the son of Sathyan, Sukumari in the film Kannum Kalarum as a child artiste. The child prodigy even played a double role in it. Then after growing up Kamal did his first film as a hero in 'Kanniyakumari' for which he got his first Filmfare Award. After this, Malayalam film industry embraced Kamal as its favourite child and groomed him to be a star of the future.
Films like Kanyakumari, Vishnu Vijayam, Gnan Ninne Premikkunnu, Raasaleela and Madanolsavam are the first learning curves, the legend cherishes even today. This video song from the film Madanolsavam is one of the best loved songs in Malayalam.
Kamal's bonding with Malayalam continues even today. In the recently release 'Four Friends', Kamal has done an important cameo. He just can't stay away long from a thing that is close to his heart.
Telugu
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTPXtEjQrYU[/YOUTUBE]
Kamal's next big entry was in Telugu. When Kamal's 'Manmathaleelai' was dubbed in Telugu, the film made riches matching to a Telugu original film. Seeing the phenomenal success of the dubbed film, Telugu producers lined up in front of Kamal's house with blank cheques in hand.
But Kamal revered his mentor more than money and waited for his guru K. Blachander to introduce him in Telugu. So KB Sir made a film only to launch Kamal in Telugu and that was 'Marocharithra'. The Telugu film became a cult hit in Andhra and ran for a year even in its neigbouring state of Tamil Nadu. What followed to Kamal is history.
'Marocharithra' apart from launching Kamal in Telugu also introduced one of the finest actresses of our times, Saritha. Kamal has some of his best films to date in Telugu like Sagara Sangamam, Swathi Muthyam and Indrudu Chandrudu. His last association with Tollywood was in 'Eenadu', the Telugu version of 'Unnaipol Oruvan'.
This is a song from 'Marocharithra' which was remade in Hindi as 'Ek Duje Ke Liye' and lunched Kamal in Bollywood.
Kannada
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlIZzomcY7c[/YOUTUBE]
Kamal's Kannada foray was also in style. His debut film was 'Kokila' directed by Balu Mahendra. 'Kokila' is a classic which all the cast and crew hold it close to their hearts. Kamal and Shobha made a brilliant pair. The music of Salil Chaudhary was magical. The direction of Balu Mahendra made it memorable.
After that Kamal has his own place in Sandalwood and did Kannda film
at regular intervals, at least a cameo. Kamal's latest association with
Kannada was in 'Rama Shyama Bhama' which is the Kannada remake of his
Tamil 'Sathileelavathi'.
Hindi
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9_mV-aJ1SA[/YOUTUBE]
Kamal's tenure in Hindi was of style and substance. He was introduced to Bollywood by K. Balachandar in 'Ek Duje Ke Liye' produced by the big banner Prasad productions. The film was a record breaking success that let too many butterflies in the stomach of the young heroes then.
He followed with an array of films showcasing the myriad talents he has. Though he was accepted as a talented actor the Hindi films maintained a distance from the talent power house. Result? Bollywood could not feed the frenzy of Kamal and the actor volunteered to stay out. He signed off from Bollywood unforgettably with a classic performance in Saagar which got him the Best Actor Filmfare Award for Hindi.
After 'Saagar', Kamal associated with Bollywood only through his bi-lingual films like Mumbai Express, Aaalavandhan, Hey Ram etc. The loss is undoubtedly for the Bollywood which has no one matching Kamal even today.
The above song is from his first film 'Ek Duje Ke Liye' and the one below is how he signed off in style with a superlative performance in 'Saagar'.
Bengali
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF4qRJpLVs0[/YOUTUBE]
Kamal has also done a film in Bengali called 'Kabita'. It was a remake of 'Aval Oru Thodarkathai' and Kamal essayed his vikatakavi role in Bengali also.
Language is never a barrier for a good artiste and for a world class actor like Kamal Haasan, nothing is a limit. The marvel continues...
Source: indiaglitz.com
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