Fans of South Indian film star Kamal Haasan dance outside a cinema hall as they celebrate the release his new film "Indian 2" in Chennai, India, Friday, July 12, 2024. - AP
KUALA LUMPUR: Kamal Haasan is definitely one-of-a-kind artiste. And by far there will be none like him again. And of top of everything, he is every bit of a fighter just like the titular character that he plays in Indian 2.
After tasting super success in the movie Kalki, which is in fact the first Indian movie that crossed 1,000 crores (RM600 million) in 2024, he is set to have more glory in Indian 2, one of the characters that defined his career in 1996. Yes, you heard that right, Kamal is actually taking the big risk of playing the same character that he did 28 years ago.
Early indications states that the movie is expected to break records especially in South India, and like Kalki, may also make waves in Bollywood. The movie opened to Malaysian fans on Friday (June 12).
And as Kalki is a multi-starrer, Indian 2 is on the shoulder on 70-year-old Kamal, and reviews while has been mixed for the movie, critics are already raving about his action, as usual. That is definitely not a surprise.
And many fans are eagerly waiting for Indian 2 to blow up the charts, especially, after his last super-blast of a movie, Vikram. He also had a small guest role as Vikram in Leo, another chart buster movie that had action star Vijay leading the movie.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (right) spent time meeting with legendary Tamil film actor Kamal Haasan (left) at Subang Air Baseduring his to Malaysia last month. - Photo: Bernama
Vikram's success came right in time to lift Kamal's career to great heights after seeing his recent movies not doing well and many critics back in his home country were already writing him off. But the fighter he has always been and the man that he is, he proved them all wrong with a brilliant performance in Vikram. At that time, it was his highest box-office hit.
Many expect Kalki and Indian 2 to surpass that feat.
Recently, Kamal also had visited Malaysia to promote Indian 2 and paid homage to Malaysian fans and even had met Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim where they had discussed the future of the film industry.
For the record, 'Indian', released in 1996, featured Kamal as a freedom fighter rebelling against corruption in India, which also creates conflict with his son involved in corrupt practices.
The film went on to be the highest-grossing Tamil film upon its release.
Kamal also had expressed his gratitude to local Malaysian fans for their unwavering support yesterday.
“Your unwavering support is the reason I stand before you today, dressed in this suit, which is why during every film release of mine, I make it a point to come all the way and meet all of you,” he said during Indian 2 film promotion at NU Sentral in Brickfields.
He added that the making of Indian 2 is a testament to the collective efforts of many individuals, and the culmination of their hard work and dedication.
The three-time Indian national film award winner also expressed deep gratitude to the film’s director, Shankar, as well as to producer Lyca Productions and distributor Red Giant Movies for their invaluable contributions to the project.
Kamal also candidly revealed that the primary reason for agreeing to Indian 2 was his anticipation of Indian 3, the upcoming sequel and continuation of the Indian series of films.
“I’m a great admirer of the third installment, and we plan to launch it shortly after the release of Indian 2,” he said.
Kamal’s repertoire of films is extremely vast and diverse; he has worked in all genres––romance to thrillers to sci-fi to comedy––and touched upon many socially relevant themes as well. Hence, the loving nickname given by his ardent fans and critic alike - 'Ulaganayagan' or The Universal Hero.
In the super-hit movie Dasha Avataram, he played 10 roles, a world cinema feat that will be unmatched for some time.
As a note, with a record 137 awards, he is an actor, writer, director, and producer, and it won’t be a surprise if he masters every department in filmmaking, from art direction to cinematography to editing to costume to makeup. He is also trained Bharatanatyam and Kathak dancer and has sung in over 50 films.
In 2010, during a three-day retrospective of his films at the Siri Fort Auditorium in New Delhi, Kamal Haasan stated that his best work would come in the following decade.
When someone like him, who won the President’s Gold Medal for acting at the age of six (Kalathur Kannamma, 1960), makes such a declaration, we can be rest assured it is not to be taken lightly. Some of his best films––Vishwaroopam 1, Vishwaroopam 2, Papanasam, Vikram, and the latest Kalki 2898 AD––all released in the last decade. With Shankar’s Indian 2 and Indian 3, and Nag Ashwin’s Kalki 2 in the pipeline, the 70-year-old star is proving why he lives up to what everyone calls him – “Ulaganayagan”.
As for Indian 2, the film is jointly produced by Lyca Productions and Red Giant Movies. It is the second instalment in the Indian trilogy and sequel to Indian (1996).
Kamal reprises his role as Senapathy, an ageing freedom fighter turned vigilante who fights against corruption, with Siddharth, S. J. Suryah, Rakul Preet Singh, Bobby Simha, Vivek, Priya Bhavani Shankar, Gulshan Grover, Samuthirakani and Nedumudi Venu in the ensemble cast.
In the film, following years after the events in Indian, Senapathy returns from abroad to aid Chitra Aravindhan and his team, who has been exposing corrupt politicians in the country through videos on the internet.
And knowing Kamal the person that he is and the movies that he has starred, just get set to see a movie filled with thrills and spills and rest assured a top class show worth watching for three hours.
