Khan Saheb Kamal Haasan's Jamaat/Jeba Koottam/Devasthaanam - Part 8

**irir123** · 10th July 2012, 09:32 PM

equanimus - as much as Kamal does his best to 'expose' the 'other' side / extreme end of the right-wing spectrum, he does not seem to do as much to showcase the islamic equivalent - one can argue that Kamal is only rightfully exposing the loopholes relevant to the native culture his ancestors belong to - however, if he considers art to be above partisan adherences to own's cultural/religious moorings (which he unhesitatingly does in his films, interviews etc etc), then he got to have a more objective means of looking/criticizing religion in general - which is something Sam Harris (for ex - there are others such as Shermer, or the late Hitchens, ) does effectively - often Kamal does give an impression of a being a lop-sided agnostic/atheist!

often, he takes questions (dumb as they are!) addressed to him, abt certain issues, in a rather unnecessary personal way - 'naama kumbudura samingaley aalaalukku rendu veedu vechhirukkaanga' kind of an answer is one such example! none denied that - but one can see his carefully cultivated 'Mohammed sahib' as opposed to his equally carefully cultivated irreverence to other deities that many consider sacred!! maybe it had to do with political correctness, but for someone with a carefully cultivated 'dare-do' aura surrounding his creative persona, littered with his own political insights, he chooses to remain stunningly silent over instances such as the November 2008 Mumbai incident, while (almost speaking like the other intellectual leftie elite Arundhati Roy) he comes down heavily on the Babri Masjid attack by the equally rabid extreme right hindutva groups!!

indha paagubaadu yaennu thaan naan kekkaen!

**Google Adsense** · 10th July 2012 09:32 PM

**equanimus** · 10th July 2012, 09:44 PM

No, my point is, to be pro-something, one has to be minimally invested in it. What has Kamal done that engages with a/the Muslim identity, let alone Islam? He has vaguely touched upon Christianity at some points, but otherwise the same point holds true for Christianity too. Here's a filmmaker who's engaged with Hindu mythology so strongly across many films. Mahabharata, Gita, Ramayana, Dasavatharam, Thirumoolar, Ramanujar and so on. What are we even talking about?

**app_engine** · 10th July 2012, 10:11 PM

Originally Posted by equanimus

What has Kamal done that engages with a/the Muslim identity, let alone Islam?

May be irir123 was thinking about the 'thuppAkkiyil kaNNeer thudaikkal' speech?

Or, the supposed attempt to make marudhanAyakam?

May be the alleged speech / statement that relatively "glorified" ghajini / gOri / moghuls while dissing east india company...

**kid-glove** · 10th July 2012, 10:14 PM

At end of it all, the Muslim stands tallest in Dasavatharam. Pro-Musliim.

**app_engine** · 10th July 2012, 10:16 PM

irir123,
Why do you think it is 'pAgupAdu'?
'carefulness'nu eduththukkakkoodAthA?

(alleged remark of "enga veettuppoNNu thAnE kashtappadum" w.r.t. attack on MR)

**irir123** · 10th July 2012, 10:40 PM

app_engine: if 'carefulness' is the reason, then that is symptomatic of shameless cowardice, that finds one side easier to criticize, scoff at! that is no different from what politicians do - that way Kamal ceases to be an artist which is what he always claims to be!

i find the opposition / criticism to Kamal's films from the hindutva brigade, ridiculously silly and sophomoric ! coz, they just do NOT KNOW how to criticize! its not therefore surprising that after American televangelist Binny Hinn got a standing ovation from a 100,000 strong crowd in Bangalore after his 'phenomenal' speech in 2005, in which he referred to idol worship equivalent to prostitution etc etc! the 100,000 makkals who applauded him most likely did not even realize the import of his snides/veiled insult on them - Hinn stayed at a 5 star hotel and had state protection, arrived and left with fanfare and almost a month passed, before some hindutva group in bangalore woke up and called for a bandh to protest against Hinn's remarks!!

so no wonder Kamal can not only get away with his often deliberate presentation of one side of history, he actually gets nice publikutty from his most vehement opponents!!