Kamal - Creator vs Actor

[irir123]

http://www.rediff.com/movies/2008/may/26devi.htm

music director Devisri Prasad on Kamal and DASA!

[jaiganes]

We all know that Kamal the actor makes the millions that Kamal the creator uses for his creations.....

....The days of Kamal the puppet is nearing the end and it is time for the puppeteer to rise.

However like any artist who is an addict of the applause, Kamal the actor is a difficult entity to shed and we can only hope for a peaceful coexistence that is mutually beneficial,

Hmmm... contrived notion! no Creator/Director AFAIK are making themselves act, in order to earn millions for making movies (MR, BR, KB, Mahendran ).And those who are acting like Cheran, Ameer, SundarC etc., are not acting because they want to earn money and invest it into making movies! they are acting because they like it.

....Nearing the end is what Iam listening from late 80's and its not happening

He had always claimed that he wanted to be a director and KB was the one who pushed him towards acting. Does he still thinks he hasnt excelled beyond 'Nagesh'?
If NO Why not now to pursue his dreams? 'Heroism' is his opium. Its just a wish from a minority crowd to come out of the drug infused state
If YES Its better he continue acting

addict for Applause - Yes,
Difficult to shed - Yes,
Peaceful Coexistense - Nope! We can look at his movies where in both the actor and the creator are at conflict and the 'Hero' is always killing the creator.

I dont agree with yor take on Kamal the creator sidelined by Kamal the actor. In movies like Dasa, VV, VRMBBS the USP, selling factor is Kamal the actor - the star. In such movies inspte of Kamal's creative contribution notwithstanding, projection of Kamal the actor is very necessary.

In movies like Hey Raam, Anbe Sivam, Kurudhippunal, Virumaandi etc., the creator has reigned supreme. If not Nasser in Kurudhippunal, Pasupathi in Virumaandi, Maddy (no our hub maddy) etc., would have got half written roles playing as sidekicks instead of playing characters who eclipsed kamal in many sequences in the respective movies. Think about it.
Even in Hey Raam, Kamal had to do a very unpopular, indecisive role that had no punch lines, while Shahrukh khan and Atul Kulkarni had the best of lines (most applauded lines). I know many kamal fans who lamented that the main role should have been done by someone else as the side characters had more clarity and punch in Hey Raam. I see it as an instance of Kamal the creator totally suppressing Kamal the actor. I see no reason to believe and expect more Kamal the creator and if we go by the buzz around MY, Kamal the creator may well be set to take over competely in the coming years.
As far as comparing Kamal and Rajini in terms of experimentation/risk taking etc., Rajini by his own admission and acceptance is a brand. Brand decisions have superficial artistic considerations and usually more experieced "packagers" are roped in. So expecting Rajini to call sheets to a talented , yet commercially "offbeat" directors is something that is not going to happen - atleast till the time Rajini is Super star. The moment the cape of Superstar is handed over to someone else, we can hope some artistic work from him( or politics or sanyas). Bigger problem is the fact that the next generation of actors are not pushing Rajini or Kamal hard enough. Vikram is getting a tad too old to push kamal and regain the artsy actor title and Vijay/Ajith are clueless as to how to come out of Rajini's shadows.
And this delays Rajini and Kamal's future decisions further. The best hope is death to the star system and throwback to K.B. Barathiraaja era where directors call the shots. Till that time you wil see people frying Rajini and Kamal as they have done in this hub for the past 5 years.

[rajasaranam]

http://www.rediff.com/movies/2008/may/26devi.htm

music director Devisri Prasad on Kamal and DASA!

Why digression :P Stick to the topic

[irir123]

jaiganes: well said! why the heck dont we have a galaxy of real actors like Ed Norton, Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon and tons of others elsewhere and have just two BIG stars whose stardom completely overshadows everything else in the industry ? why is it that the others shamelessly try to ape them, instead of creating their own niches ? I think the main reason for this is the fact that genuinely talented people are not entering the field, and only those with 'connections' in the field enter the same

[Vivasaayi]

@rajasaranam

if kamal had tried to prove he was biggest hero here

he wouldnt have answered to the a question

"did u have the anger in change of kamal-rajni to rajni-kamal"

and his answer was "irukaadha pinna"

he has no egos whatsoever

chumma penatha koodadhu

[rajasaranam]

I dont agree with yor take on Kamal the creator sidelined by Kamal the actor. In movies like Dasa, VV, VRMBBS the USP, selling factor is Kamal the actor - the star. In such movies inspte of Kamal's creative contribution notwithstanding, projection of Kamal the actor is very necessary.

In movies like Hey Raam, Anbe Sivam, Kurudhippunal, Virumaandi etc., the creator has reigned supreme. If not Nasser in Kurudhippunal, Pasupathi in Virumaandi, Maddy (no our hub maddy) etc., would have got half written roles playing as sidekicks instead of playing characters who eclipsed kamal in many sequences in the respective movies. Think about it.
Even in Hey Raam, Kamal had to do a very unpopular, indecisive role that had no punch lines, while Shahrukh khan and Atul Kulkarni had the best of lines (most applauded lines). I know many kamal fans who lamented that the main role should have been done by someone else as the side characters had more clarity and punch in Hey Raam. I see it as an instance of Kamal the creator totally suppressing Kamal the actor. I see no reason to believe and expect more Kamal the creator and if we go by the buzz around MY, Kamal the creator may well be set to take over competely in the coming years.

dasa - lets not Discuss until we see the movie
VV - Was a GM movie end to end
VRMBBS - Yes the USP was kamal the Hero and i could very well understand this in comparison to MBMBBS as how Prabhu's role for Arshad Warsi was butchered up in Tamil

Heyram - i cant agree on this as i cud see kamal covering frame to frame in the movie with his own inconsistencies ( Sakethram though) with his heroic fight/sex/kissing sequences . It was a movie on Sakethram and others were just bafoons/puppets thrown in here and there to amuse the viewers. yes the buffons are interesting at times and do have good 'Punch Lines' (most applauded lines) still the ringmaster takes care to tell who is the master. ( Ask any fan of SRK and you will get a different answer from yours)

Anbesivam - Maddy was there Yes! but the Hero is always kamal, who tries to ridicule ARS at every given moment and make him realise the truth. Its the story of Nallasivam right; and hence the sniffing over the body of kiran, Fighting against the goons when all other Saga's are made mere bafoons who play their Thaarai, Thappattai to usupethify their HERO. And its not the communist ideologies that win at last, its the sacrifice of the 'Nallasivam' which gets the mass movement their goal of 910 (or is it 912?).

kurudhippunal - You need to watch the original 'Drokal' by Govind Nihalani'. You will undestand how two antagonists from the same society who are sincere to their ideals are convereted to a Hero and a Villain ( Porukkikkum Poarallikkum pirantha kalla Kuzhanthai) There were no such interpretations in Drokal. ( I read somewhere GN appreciated kamal of making a better movie than his. hmmm... Gone are the days of young angry red eyed man who made a tamas )

Virumaandi - Better not said for the gory bloodbath and half an hour heroic struggle doing all sorts of sports running, climbing, jumping... ( Aptly Supported by Raaja's - viru virumaandi virumaandi ) and finally killing the villain with a poke into the 'thondai kuzhi'.

There stands kamal with his inconsistencies. A permanent conflict between the Creator and the Actor. Has he been only the Creator the need to glorify his heroes would have been kept aside and the narration will take the lead. ( for instance i dont know the Hero/villain of Rashoman, while its clear in Virumaandi ) But kamal being also an actor, though coming up with excellent plots/ scripts goofs up in the screenplay in order to pave way for his heroisms.

I rest my case as i've spoken about this in large at many instances in the same hub and nobody, Yes Nobody seems to get what Iam trying to tell. May be a direct Discussion would help to resolve this issue eitherway :P

[rajasaranam]

he has no egos whatsoever

chumma penatha koodadhu

I dont agree.

thanks for the Advice

[ShereneAndrew]

<dig>
juz thought of informing kamal fans.. from today.. in Dinathanthi kamal's life story is being written.. njoy ppl..
</dig>

[Movie Cop]

Heyram - i cant agree on this as i cud see kamal covering frame to frame in the movie with his own inconsistencies ( Sakethram though) with his heroic fight/sex/kissing sequences . It was a movie on Sakethram and others were just bafoons/puppets thrown in here and there to amuse the viewers. yes the buffons are interesting at times and do have good 'Punch Lines' (most applauded lines) still the ringmaster takes care to tell who is the master. ( Ask any fan of SRK and you will get a different answer from yours)

RS,
Hey Ram is a first person narrative. It is not a movie about Mahatma Gandhi. Neither it is a movie about the infamous 1946 Calcutta riots nor the Indo-Pak partition. The movie is just about one Saket Ram and takes you on a journey through the eyes & perspective of it's central character during one of the most turbulent times of modern Indian history! It is one of those movies, where Kamal - the creator is "on par" with Kamal - the actor!

Thus Blaming Kamal for appearing frame-by-frame of a 200 min long movie thus sidelining other key characters like Mahatma Gandhi & Sriram Abhenykar is not a fair criticism.

[irir123]

whatever Kamal has done in terms of his 'creations' are the best anyone of his cult 'hero' status could come up with in the Indian cinema setup! why ? because, if he were to make a movie, keeping his persona completely aside, the movie is a surefire failure! Hey Ram was the closest he could come to doing that - he is not just some superhero - he feels fear, he is confused/puzzled, he has weaknesses, he makes mistakes and even at the end, he does NOT fully realize the enormity of his decision, but gets overwhelmed by not only Gandhi's personality, but also by the circumstances when one N.Godse does the job which he was chosen to! there could not have been a more brilliant ending to an amazing movie

if Kamal were to make movies like those of Mrinal Sen, or, an Adoor, he should have done those right from the beginning of his career - therefore, he has tread the line between commercial and arthouse cinema very well indeed!