No journey is odious when people are there to support you: Kamal Haasan

Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan, who entered the film industry when he was just three, has taken baby steps into politics. In the 48 hours after Kamal launched Makkal Needhi Maiam on February 21 in Madurai, 201,597 people had registered to join the Tamil film icon's political party.

Asked about his political journey, Kamal says, "The traction is enormous. Apart from being heady, as people would assume it is, it's head clearing. It clears your head and sometimes even the path ahead of you... it makes you very confident because when the people are with you, no journey wherever it leads you, is odious or painful."

He had also announced that there would be no more films for him as his plunge into politics for the people of Tamil Nadu is final. How does he plan to bring the curtain down? "I think the logistics will bring down the curtain because of the elections and logistics of what happens in elections and how we go will be the deciding factors. But ultimately, as of now, the path has been chosen."

Before he bids adieu to films, his fans can catch his forthcoming film Vishwaroop 2 (Vishwaroopam 2) on August 10. It's a bilingual shot in Tamil and Hindi, and also dubbed in Telugu. The Hindi version will be presented by Rohit Shetty and the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Entertainment.

Kamal says Vishwaroop 2 is an espionage film with a heart. "My eldest maternal uncle was in the police department and moved on to the Intelligence Bureau, so the stories that we heard from him were absolutely on the other end of the spectrum as compared to the James Bond films. We all wanted to join MI6 and he trained with MI6, and the stories that he used to tell were something else. So, I always wanted to get that feeling into films. As a matter of fact, when we made Nayakan... we decided our bad guys would not wear checkered shirts and scarves on their necks; they'll be such that you won't be able to differentiate them from common people; but they will be indulging in the darkest of deeds. So, that's exactly the direction we went in," adds the artiste, who also has Indian 2 in his kitty.

He has written, directed and produced Vishwaroop 2. Talking about path-breaking films in Hollywood, he says, "The one that gives me goosebumps is Once Upon a Time in America of Ennio Morricone and Sergio Leone. It was very instrumental for us to get inspired to make Nayakan. Leone set a trend that many ad filmmakers followed afterwards, and Morricone's music has lived at least for four generations now, as I know it. There are so many things, especially the casting, that made Once Upon a Time in America astounding. You don't have to explain with dialogues. You just see the characters and you know who's grown up into what."

Kamal started acting over six decades ago. Since then he has featured in more than 200 films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam. Which one does he consider to be path-breaking? "One of them is Ek Duuje Ke Liye, and then there is K Vishwanath's Sagara Sangamam, Sadma and Thevar Magan, which I produced. Also, Appu Raja and Hey Ram, which changed my reputation."