When AVM Saravanan spoke about Kamal Haasan's debut: 'My father knew he would make it big...'
Kamal Haasan has acted in over 230 films, and while it’s widely known that the multifaceted artist made his debut in Kalathur Kannamma, the acclaimed 1960 classic starring Gemini Ganesan and Savitri, there’s a lesser-known story behind how he was chosen for the film that would go on to cement his stellar on-screen presence in Indian film industry. It was AVM Studios’ founder and doyen AV Meiyappan who picked him and, remarkably, even back then, he foresaw the successful career the young Kamal would go on to enjoy.
Recalling the story behind Kamal Haasan’s debut, producer AVM Saravanan, son of AV Meiyappan, shared how a young Kamal had once walked into their home already carrying an intense fire within him and an undeniable talent for acting. "When I was living with my mother and father, a doctor had come to check in on my mother. Along with her, came a small boy. He had sat aside, holding a sad look on his face. When my mother enquired about him, she told her that he wanted to meet AVM sir and get an opportunity to act. My father was sleeping at the same. When he woke up, I took him upstairs. My father saw him, adjusted the light near his table and asked him to act," Saravanan elaborated.
To Meiyappan and Saravanan's surprise, Kamal had enacted scenes from MG Ramachandran and Sivaji Ganesan's films in an exceptional way. "My father was impressed. He told me to make him play a child artist in the film that Gemini Ganesan and Savitri were acting in. While I had pointed out that a child actor had already been selected for the role, he said, 'This boy will make it big in the industry. Take him there.' I was astonished as he had acted only once and my father knew he would become a stellar actor in the future," he added.
Not just the producers, even Gemini Ganesan and Savitri were impressed by his acting skills. Saravanan had also reminisced a few memorable moments during the shoot of Kalathur Kannamma. "Kamal Haasan had wanted a raw mango from a tree. Since they were shooting inside a mango farm, there were plenty of them. However, none of them were ripe enough. We had attached a lookalike mango for the shoot. We said the same to him. A few scenes later, there was shot were Savitri was supposed to feed upma to Kamal. During the scene, he did not eat it and spit it out after we said cut. When we probed why he did that, he said, 'You had pointed to the mango which was a dupe. The house set was a dupe. What if this upma was also fake?' SP Muthuraman, who was an assistant director back then, ate it and proved that it was indeed real and cooked upma," he chuckled.
Saravanan also remembered how Kamal was an enthusiastic kid, who wanted learn every aspect of filmmaking when he had the time. "Even if he gets a small gap, he would leave the shooting floor and go to the studio," he remarks, adding, "When my father is watching the rushes, no one will be inside the room except for the director. Kamal would royally barge in and ask for the scenes to be played again. He used to also sit in the editing studio, recording theatre and other places also."
"Tamil cinema may have many talented actors and technicians, but very few possess a combination of all those skills and in that regard, there is simply no one who matches Kamal Haasan," he concluded.
AVM Saravanan breathed his last on Thursday morning due to age-related ailments. The 86-year-old was involved in filmmaking since the late 1950's, and took over the studios and production after his father's demise in 1979. Apart from Tamil, he also produced films in Telugu, and Hindi. Some of his landmark projects include Naanum Oru Penn (1963), Samsaram Adhu Minsaram (1986), Minsara Kanavu (1997), Sivaji: The Boss (2007), Vettaikaran (2009), and Ayan (2009). His work had influenced multiple generations of filmmakers and won him widespread respect throughout the film fraternity.
