Happy Birthday Kamal Haasan: The Ulaganayagan's tryst with the Navarasas
We take a look at how Kamal, in his distinguished career, has exhibited the different aspects of Navarasas in multiple ways
Kamal Haasan has always been that actor every other actor aspires to be. As an actor, his dance background has proven invaluable as he has been able to exhibit different expressions aka rasas
Rasa: Sringara | Expression: Love | Manmadhaleelai - While Gemini was the Kadhal Mannan, this film registered Kamal Haasan as the definitive lover(play)boy of a new generation
Ilamai Oonjal Aadukiradhu - His exhibition of love continued and this, to me, is the most beautiful love story he was a part of. He was at once the lover and the husband everyone wanted and aspired to
Ek Duje Ke Liye - Sometimes you fall in love. Sometimes it makes you fall. We get both this in this great modern day retelling of the tragedy that was Romeo and Juliet
Rasa: Hasyam | Expression: Laughter | MMKR - When the great Nagesh asks Kamal's Rajan to throw money at his face, he pauses. But the film's laughter doesn't pause ever - for them & especially for you
Pammal K. Sambandam - A craft needs to be honed and when it comes to laughter, no one has done it more than Kamal Haasan. One of the last of the great comedies by the CM - KH combo
Panchathanthiram - If there is a film where Kamal's laughter means so many different things yet all of them lead you to laugh with and at him, it has to be this. Maybe Haasyam should be renamed Haasan
Rasa: Raudram | Expression: Anger | Varumayin Niram Sivappu - Right from the opening song's searing lines to the famous interview, this film is a treatise in anger and its management
Sathya - There is something about unemployment that makes people angry and this doesn't come better than in Sathya where Kamal's fury is a joy to behold.
Devar Magan - Its existence might be controversial in the annals of cinema, given TN's caste context, but when Kamal swings that sickle at Nasser, you wish it was caste that died along with his anger
Rasa: Karunyam | Expression: Compassion | Punnagai Mannan - To forgive oneself for living, when all you wanted was to die alongside your loved one, takes tremendous compassion.
Anbe Sivam - Yet that compassion is something that can transferred. Empathy can be cultivated. And it can be taught, exhibited. Even on a disfigured face.
Papanasam - That face has eyes that tear up, jaws that quiver and eyebrows that arch to let you enter a world full of mercy. When Suyambulingam asks for forgiveness, well you can't not give it.
Rasa: Bhibatsam | Expression: Disgust | Unnal Mudiyum Thambi - The practices of Bilhari Marthandam Pillai does not sit well with Udayamoorthy and the disgust he shows is all of us right now
Sigappu Rojakkal - Yet it is not just society that disgusts people, it is also the mentality of the people in it. That is best exhibited by Muthu/Dileep who has a huge emotional trauma
Mahanadi - Disgust truly attains greatness when the actor makes us feel it in our bones. And is there a Kamal film that does this better than Mahanadi that makes us feel disgusted with the society?
Rasa: Bhayanakam | Expression: Fear | Thenali - Fear can be a part of life but it cannot be all there is in one's life. It was the cornerstone of Thenali so much so that Kamal had a monologue about it
16 Vayadhinile - Fear was a huge part of Kamal's Chappani character. His fear about both the happenings and the characters in the movie kept escalating as it progressed
Moondram Pirai - Yet fear is what we felt the most for Kamal's Cheenu when that final scene of plays out. How precious are memories that define your life, that one day, can just... disappear?
Rasa: Veeram | Expression: Heroism | Vikram - Much has been written about India's James Bond/Ethan Hunt since its release, but his heroism shines through in the most international way in this film.
Kuruthi Punal - But heroism, especially the subtler kind, is where Kamal shines through. The confrontations with Nasser in this film are legendary. One especially is even a precursor to Nolan's TDK.
Nammavar - As much as the world and nations need saving, it is saving everyday humans and being their hero where Kamal's mark (and void now) is felt most.Nammavar is a name synonymous with the man now
Rasa: Adbhutam | Expression: Wonder |Guna - When Kamal's eponymous character finds his Abhirami and KJ Yesudoss is singing Paartha Vizhi Paarthapadi, the wonder that is in Kamal's face is so pure
Indian - Kamal's tryst with societal wrongs and the absolute wonder he has on his face works best in this National Award-winning performance of his - a great precursor to Shankar's Mudhalvan
Apoorva Sagotharargal - Is there a better film that has been quintessential wonder for all of us than Apoorva Sagotharargal? Appu will forever be wondrous for all the mystique surrounding him.
Rasa: Shantam | Expression: Peace | Kalathur Kannamma - His first film was probably also the last time Kamal Haasan knew what peace was. One look at that young face singing Ammavum Neeye is enough.
Salangai Oli - Well how can a list of rasas be complete without the presence of this film. In a film filled with multitudes of expressions, his final scene is what makes it all the more powerful
Uttama Villain - Maybe Kamal wondered, what if his biopic, made after his death, doesn't do justice? So here's the loose self-made ode and the peace pervading UV's final scene is indescribable.
