- Born
- Birth nameParthasarathy Srinivasan
- Nicknames
- Universal Hero
- Aandavar
- Ulaga Nayagan
- Height5′ 5″ (1.65 m)
- Kamal Haasan was born November 7, 1954 in Paramakudi, Ramanathapuram District, Tamil Nadu. He debuted as a child artiste in the film "Kalathoor Kannamma" (1960). Since then, he has starred in nearly 220 films in the major Indian languages - Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi. He has been a part of the film industry for 60 years, as of 2020. His journey in cinema has seen him do various roles - from child artiste, to romantic lead to one of the most respected and revered heroes of the film industry today.
He has famously said that he is a reluctant actor. He has an avid interest in every aspect of film making and is known for his work as a choreographer, director, and writer, as well.
He wrote his first script at age 18 for the film "Unarchigal" (1976), which was then followed by films that have gone on to become cult classics - Rajapaarvai (1981), Sathya (1988), Apoorva Sahotharargal (1989), Thevar Magan (1992), Mahanadi (1994), Kurudhippunal (1995), Avvai Shanmugi (1996), Hey Ram (2000), Pammal K Sambandam (2002), Panchathanthiram (2002), Anbe Sivam (2003), are a few of the films etched in popular memory for having set the bar for craftsmanship in the fields of screenplay, script, and dialogue.
He is also a prolific writer of fiction and non-fiction in Tamil and his published work is testament to his constant exploration of structure and form.
Kamal Haasan's strong convictions in his art have led to some of Indian cinema's most path-breaking films like Pushpak / Pushpaka Vimaanam / Pesum Padam (1987). Kamal Haasan also worked as a choreographer while transitioning as a well-known child artiste to the lead actor in a feature length film. Some of his best-known work as a dancer can be seen in Saagara Sangamam (1983) and the popular hit Punnagai Mannan (1986).
Kamal Haasan is also a student of Carnatic music, studying under musical maestro Dr. Balamuralikrishna. One of his biggest hits as a playback singer was the song "Inji Iduppazhagi" for the film Thevar Magan.
His career as a director began with the film Chachi 420 (1997), the Hindi remake of Avvai Shanmugi. Since then he has called the shots for critically acclaimed films like "Hey Ram" and "Virumaandi".
He has never hesitated to state his opinions and encourage debate about topics that are socially relevant. He is a rationalist in thought and moderate in opinion and a humanist in philosophy. The need to be socially conscious is seen in the way his fan clubs have revamped themselves into entities that carry out charity and volunteer work.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Maiam Magazine
- SpousesSarika Thakur(1988 - 2002) (divorced, 2 children)Vani Ganpati(1978 - 1988) (divorced)
- Children
- ParentsD. SrinivasanRajalakshmi Srinivasan
- RelativesChandra Haasan(Sibling)Charu Haasan(Sibling)Nalini Raghu(Sibling)
- Kamal Haasan happens to be the one and only Indian actor bagging more than 19 Filmfare awards.
- He is fluent in Tamil, English, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, Bengali, Kannada and French.
- Kamal Haasan has a unique distinction of sung song for 14 Music Composers.
- Seven movies that he has starred in have been sent to represent India in Oscars for Best foreign movie category, highest by any Indian.
- His innovative acting has earned him the title "the first, and perhaps the last, complete hero in Indian Cinema"
- Met action superstar Jackie Chan for the first time, when the latter came to the audio launch of Hassan's latest thriller, Dasavatharam in April of 2008. Hassan confessed to have been a huge fan of Chan, and admitted at the audio launch that he had during his career, tried emulating Jackie Chan's stunts, resulting in 32 fractures to his body.
- Kamal Hasan became the first Indian actor to get a 1 crore as his salary for a single film in 1994. It was Rajesh Khanna who was alone the highest paid Indian actor in India from 1970-1987 and Amitabh shared the status of being highest paid Indian actor with Rajesh Khanna from 1980-87 and Kamal Hasan became alone the highest paid Indian actor from 1988-1998 and shares the same tag of highest paid Indian actor with Rajnikanth from 1999-2013.
- Is the only actor to have earned a Best Actor in a Leading Role award and a Best Actor in a Supporting Role nomination for the same movie (Saagar (1985)) at Filmfare Awards.
- A London editor once told me that the best way to put news hounds off your scent is to lie inventively
- The closest I feel to is Dustin Hoffman who shares many of my paradoxes. Physical appearance to begin with.
- I haven't got a degree. So, I've never stopped learning. When you get a degree, and wear that square hat with tassels on it, you think you've done it and you lean back. There is a certain amount of complacency that comes with achievement. What you perceive is achievement. When you don't, when you are insecure all the time, that's when you constantly forage for knowledge in the extra-mural dump.
- Strangely, one of the greatest rationalists of this world has been turned into a god: Buddha.
- Indian (1996) - Rs. 40,000,000
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