Kamal Haasan is a famous Indian actor, director, dancer, writer, lyricist, playback singer, choreographer, screenwriter, makeup artist and politician. Kamal Haasan primarily produces Tamil films. He has worked in films in Bengali, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, and Malayalam in addition to Tamil.

His peers in the Indian film business have hailed Haasan's contributions to movies, and the Tamil film industry has acknowledged him as a major impact on actors and directors. He was a trailblazer in the Indian film industry, pioneering numerous cutting-edge technology and cosmetics.
 

Personal life

Family

Haasan was born into a Tamil Iyengar family in the town of Paramakudi, in the Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu, to criminal defence lawyer D. Srinivasan and Rajalakshmi, a housewife. During 2013 his daughter Shruti Haasan appeared on an episode of Neengalum Vellalam Oru Kodi, where "phone a friend" option is availed to Shruti and when she called her father Kamal, he stated that his parents named him Parthasarathy before he was called as Kamal Haasan and his mother always used to call him by that name. In an interview with Karan Thapar, Haasan said his father was literate in Sanskrit. Haasan was the youngest of four children; his siblings are Charuhasan, Chandrahasan and Nalini (Raghu). His two older brothers followed their father's example and studied law. Haasan continued his education in Sir M.Ct. Muthiah Chettiar Boys Higher Secondary School and Hindu Higher Secondary School in Madras (now Chennai).

Relationships

In 1978, at age 24, Haasan married dancer Vani Ganapathy. She acted with Haasan in the 1975 movie Melnaattu Marumagal. After marriage, Vani worked as Haasan's costume designer for several movies. They divorced ten years later.[citation needed]

Haasan and actress Sarika began living together in 1988, marrying after the birth of their first child, Shruti (born 1986). Shruti is a singer and a Tollywood-Kollywood actress. Their younger daughter, Akshara (born 1991), was assistant director for 2013's Vishwaroopam and actress for 2019's Kadaram Kondan. Sarika stopped acting soon after their marriage, Sarika worked as Haasan's costume designer for the movie Hey Ram and won the National Film Award for Best Costume Designer. In 2002, the couple filed for divorce, which became final in 2004. After their divorce, Sarika acted in movies and TV serials, winning the National Film Award for Best Actress for the 2005 film Parzania.[citation needed]

From 2005 until 2016, Haasan was in a relationship with actress Gautami,[citation needed], his frequent co-star during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Gautami had announced on her blog that she had ended her relationship with him writing, "It is heartbreaking for me to have to say today that I and Mr. Haasan are no longer together. After almost 13 years together, it has been one of the most devastating decisions that I have ever had to make in my life."

Early in his career, he co-starred in several films with Srividya. Haasan visited Srividya on her deathbed in 2006.

Political career

He formed the centrist party Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), a regional political party in Tamil Nadu. He formally announced the party's formation on 21 February 2018 in Madurai. The party's flag displays six joined hands in a circle in alternate red and white colours with a white star at its centre in a black background. Haasan began his political journey from late President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam's residence and his memorial at Rameswaram. His party contested in 37 seats in 2019 Indian general election and lost. Makkal Needhi Maiam's vote share in the 2019 Lok Sabha election was 3.72% (in the seats it contested).

He unsuccessfully contested the 2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election from Coimbatore South and lost to BJP Mahila Morcha President Vanathi Srinivasan by a narrow margin.

Controversy

Thevar Community Controversy

One of his early films Thevar Magan, which won five national prizes, including best film in Tamil, drew harsh criticism for associating the Thevar minority of Tamil Nadu with violence.

Hey Raam Controversy

Kamal Haasan wrote, directed, and produced a film called Hey Ram that won three national honours and was nominated for an Oscar. This bilingual film is based on Nathuram Godse's murder of Mahatma Gandhi. Because Gandhi was portrayed negatively in this film, there was a significant uproar among various left-leaning political parties.

Vishwaroopam Controversy

Vishwaroopam, an Indian movie released in 2013, faced a number of contentious problems. The Hindu Makkal Katchi party wanted a change from its existing Sanskrit title to a solely Tamil one in the first case of this nature. Theatre owners urged a retraction of this arrangement when Kamal Haasan announced a direct-to-home (DTH) release of the movie out of concern for significant revenue losses to DTH operators. Haasan consented to let the movie premiere in theatres first after threatening a complete theatre boycott of Vishwaroopam.

Later, Muslim organisations in Tamil Nadu urged that the movie be stopped, claiming that it would offend Muslim sensibilities. Despite Tamil Nadu district collectors ordering theatre owners not to screen Vishwaroopam despite the film's approval by the Central Board of Film Certification of India, which cited law and order issues, the movie was released in neighbouring states with higher Muslim populations than Tamil Nadu. The ban in Tamil Nadu caused screenings in nearby Indian states as well as a few international markets to cease.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalitha, was accused of having political and commercial interests, which the Indian film industry denies, and her actions were criticised as a direct attack on freedom of speech in India. Kamal Haasan claimed that after repeated pressure to remove the supposedly controversial parts from the movie, he may be compelled to leave Tamil Nadu and India because he was "tired of being pushed within a dirty political game."

Nathuram Godse Controversy

At a political rally in Aravakurichi, Tamil Nadu, Kamal Haasan said something controversial about the country's first terrorist. The Vishwaroopam actor claimed that Nathuram Godse, who killed Mahatma Gandhi, was the first terrorist of independent India. As a good Indian who values equality, Kamal Haasan further stated that he would "want the three colours in the tricolour to remain intact."

Plebiscite in Kashmir

The actor became embroiled in controversy in February 2018 after he questioned why India was reluctant to conduct a referendum in Kashmir. This declaration was made following a treacherous attack in Pulwama by the Jaish-e-Mohammed that resulted in the deaths of 40 members of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). No soldier would perish, according to Kamal, if Indian and Pakistani politicians acted decently. He said, "The Line of Control will be in control." He soon came under fire from a number of lawmakers and civilians, which forced him to retract his statement. His party, Makkal Needhi Maiyam, said in a news release that his remarks had been exaggerated.

Poonool Controversy

During a Q&A session on Twitter in July 2018, Kamal Haasan responded to a number of queries from his followers. Which books, or "nool" in Tamil, have had a significant influence on his life, one of his followers inquired. The performer remarked, "I steered clear of one thread. I was greatly impacted by the thread, Poonool. I stayed away because of that." He drew harsh criticism for his remarks from the Brahmin community, who wear the sacred thread.

Did You Know?

• Parthasarathy Srinivasan is Kamal Haasan's true name.
• When he was 4 years old, Kamal Haasan began acting. He also received the President's Medal for Best Actor at the young age of 4 for his performance in Kalathur Kannamma.
• Kamal Haasan is an all rounder. He is an actor, Director, Script Writer, Producer, Playback Singer, Lyricist, Choreographer, Dancer.
• Kamal Haasan can speak languages like Tamil, English, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, Bengali, Kannada and French.
• The only actor from India to have acted in films in all six major Indian film languages—Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Bengali—is Kamal Haasan.
• The only Indian actor to have produced Silver Jubilee films in five different languages is Kamal Haasan.
• The most films (7) from India that were nominated for an Oscar in the category of best foreign language film belong to Kamal Haasan.
• The most number of Filmfare Awards, 19 have been won by Kamal Haasan.
• Kamal Haasan  previously received the Best Taxpayer Award from the Income Tax Division.
• Kamal Haasan donated every organ in his body to science.