Ahead of his film Modha Rathri's premiere on Netflix, director Raja Karuppasamy has met Kamal Haasan. Sharing a still featuring him with Kamal, the filmmaker expressed an enthusiastic note on social media where he expressed his admiration for the legendary actor. The note begins with a piece of text in Tamil that seems to be what Kamal told the Modha Rathri director and that translates to: "You should show everyone in Kodambakkam who you are."
Several film personalities have described Kamal Haasan as more than just an actor but an institution of filmmaking. Raja Karuppasamy echoed this sentiment, writing, "There hasn’t been a single day in my life where I haven’t spoken about your cinema, watched your films, discussed your characters, or learnt something from the way you tell a story. For me, you were never just an actor. You were my cinema school."
The filmmaker added, "Your films taught me how an actor can disappear into a character. How a filmmaker can question society. How cinema can entertain, disturb, make us laugh, make us cry, and still stay with us long after the screen goes dark. Every time I thought I understood cinema, one of your films made me realise how much more there is to learn."
The director also reflected on his journey in the film industry and drew a parallel between it and his experience watching Kamal's films. "From being a fan who watched you on screen with awe, to becoming someone who gets to make films of my own — somewhere in this journey, your cinema has always been a part of me. I may never be able to put into words what your cinema means to me. But if I ever make a film that makes someone feel even a fraction of what your films made me feel, I’ll consider myself truly blessed."
He ended his note by thanking Kamal for "the cinema, the courage, the lessons, and making generations like mine fall hopelessly in love with cinema."
