We take a look back at Kamal's most famous partnerships with K.Balachander, SP.Muthuraman, Balu Mahendra, Singeetam Srinivasa Rao,Kasinathuni Viswanath and KS Ravikumar

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Happy Birthday Kamal Haasan: The filmmakers who brought the best out of the Ulaganayagan - 60 years of Kamalism

As the actor completes 60 years of service to cinema, we take you through his most famous collaborations with different directors

Team CE

Published:12th Aug, 2019 at 1:00 PM

It was K Balachander who introduced to the world the genius that is Kamal Haasan. From Arangetram to Uttama Villain, it was a fruitful association that lasted over 31 years.

Aval Oru Thodar Kathai (1974): The story revolves around a working middle class woman, who sacrifices her life and desires to support her large family.

Apoorva Raagangal (1975): The film examines relationships between people with wide age gaps, which challenged Indian social mores.

Moondru Mudichu (1976): The film revolves around a university freshman Selvi (Sridevi) and two men: Prasath (Rajnikanth) and Balaji (Haasan), who fall in love with her.

Punnagai Mannan (1986): Punnagai Mannan was the sixth time that the actor-director duo collaborated.

From Aadu Puli Aatam to Sakalakala Vallavan to Sollum Pillai, SP Muthuraman's collaborations with Kamal was as good as his films with Rajinikanth

Oru Oodhappu Kan Simittugiradhu (1976): This love story revolves around Kamal returning from imprisonment to reunite with his lost love.

Aadu Puli Attam (1977): In brief, this is the story of a young man who dreams of becoming a policeman, but decides to go against the police due to circumstances and heads a gang of thieves.

Sakalakala Vallavan (1982): Kamal's sister is raped by the village head's son when the former refuses to abide by his dictatorship. Kamal vows to seek revenge and get his sister married to her rapist.

It is natural that a sensitive filmmaker like Balu Mahendra formed a warm relationship with Kamal Haasan. From tragic love stories to comic entertainers, this was a collaboration we wished to see more

Kokila (1977): The film is a love story that goes wrong due to an accident.

Moondram Pirai (1982): A young woman suffers a major head injury after which she begins behaving like a child. Trapped at a brothel, she finds hope in a lonely school teacher who rescues her

Sathi Leelavathi (1995): The film talks about the life of a simple homemaker Leelavathi (Kalpana), who finds out that her husband has an affair. Dr Sakthivel (Kamal) helps her win him back.

If there was one director Kamal Haasan was most comfortable with, it was Singeetam Srinivasa Rao. It's almost like SSR could bring to life anything Kamal thinks of. Just look at their films together!

Raja Paarvai (1981): Raghu is a blind violinist who leads an independent life. When Nancy learns about him, she decides to cover his story and eventually, they fall in love but have to overcome obstac

Apoorva Sagodharargal (1989): A police officer pays a heavy price after he gets involved with criminals. Years later, his son, goes on a vengeance spree and his twin is mistaken as the culprit.

Michael Madana Kama Rajan (1990): Quadruplets are separated at birth and find new homes. Things take a turn after they meet each other.

If it was K Balachander in Tamil, it was surely K Viswanath in Telugu. Just a handful of films, but each of them was a classic that will surely stand the test of time

Sagara Sangamam (1983): Balakrishna, a trained Kuchupudi dancer gets a chance to perform classical dance festival. However, two days prior, his mother dies which breaks him.

Swathi Muthyam (1985): An autistic individual, Sivayya, courageously confronts existing social conventions and traditions for a good cause. He weds an impoverished young widow during a pious festival

Subha Sankalpam (1995): A young fisherman loses his family while striving to protect his master's treasure. On learning about his kind gesture, the master adopts his son and leaves behind wealth.

Is it a coincidence that KS Ravikumar made his mark in Tamil cinema just as SP Muthuraman retired? How else can we explain KSR's blockbuster equation with both Kamal and Rajini?

Avvai Shanmugi (1996): A divorced man desperately misses his daughter. In order to be with her, he takes up a job in his father-in-law's house and disguises himself as a female governess.

Panchathanthiram (2002): Ram's friends hire Maggie, a call girl, to help him get over his wife, who mistakenly believes him to be a philanderer. However, they get in trouble when Maggie ends up dead.

Dasavatharam (2008): After realising the danger of a bio-weapon, a scientist wants to protect it from being misused. It accidentally reaches India, and he must race against time to prevent disaster.