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Kamal hosts extravagant premiere

With the same touch of class that he brings to his roles, actor-director Kamal Haasan today screened a preview of his much-awaited movie, Hey! Ram, in Madras.

The movie looks at events leading to the assasination of Mahatma Gandhi. Continuing with the mood and feel of the era that the movie depicts, Kamal had a horse cavalcade ride to the preview theatre at 7 pm.

And, instead of the Mercedes Benz or the Pajero that actors prefer to drive in, part of the Hey! Ram cast, including Kamal Haasan, Vasundhara Das, music director Ilaiyaraja and art director Sabu Cyril, rode a vintage car to the screening.

Kamal said, "I have made this movie because I am an Indian and this is a part of the Indian heritage."

Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi was the chief guest for the evening.

Karunanidhi told the guests that though Indians have wanted to touch world standards in cinema, they have always fallen a little short of it. He claimed that Hey! Ram would change this as it took an actor of Kamal's calibre to touch the mark.

The who's who of the Tamil film industry turned up for the preview. Noted film director K Balanchander and superstar Rajnikant were among those present in the select gathering.

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