'Kamal Haasan Is An Unreasonable Man'

'Here is a man who's always pushing the envelope regardless of the repercussions.'
'That's the frenzy of a genius at work.'

R Madhavan cannot stop raving about his Anbe Sivam co-star, Kamal Haasan, who turns 70 on November 7.

="One day, my parents had gone to dinner with me and my wife when me ran into Kamalji and his family. He actually walked up to our table to talk to my parents," Madhaven tells tells Subhash K Jha.

"They talked about that evening for the next six weeks! I learnt something invaluable from Kamalji that evening."

Maddy, you've always admired Kamal Haasan?

Oh absolutely! He is to Tamil cinema what (Amitabh) Bachchansaab is to Hindi cinema.

I remember my excitement when I was to do a film with Kamalji. It was to be directed by Priyadarshan.

To discuss the project, I spent the most unforgettable four hours with Kamalji.

For the first three hours, we talked about everything under the sun except the film.

We had lunch together.

As he talked about his life, work and friends, I realised what made him who he was.

Then we finally got down to discussing the film.

He told me the script of a road movie which was absolutely fabulous.

After I heard him out, I told him I want to do the film exactly the way he narrated it to me.

"Just take me on and teach me," I told him.

The way he enacted my scenes and his own was simply amazing. I wanted to do my own scenes exactly the way he showed me.

Were you excited?

Yes! I remember Kamalji paid me a backhanded compliment. He said he needed someone for my role who was spontaneous, so he wouldn't have to worry about what that character is doing.

Kamalji is such a pathbreaker.

I believe there're two kinds of people in world, the reasonable and unreasonable.

The reasonable man adapts to the world while the unreasonable man tries to bring the world around to his point of view. All progress in the world is due to unreasonable men like Kamalji.

Go on.

Here is a man who's always pushing the envelope regardless of the repercussions.

That's the frenzy of a genius at work.

My family has diehard Kamal Haasan fans.

My father relates to his characters as though he knows them firsthand. There's so much honesty in his performances!

One day, my parents had gone to dinner with me and my wife when me ran into Kamalji and his family. He actually walked up to our table to talk to my parents.

They talked about that evening for the next six weeks!

I learnt something invaluable from Kamalji that evening.

I learnt the art of putting those who are in awe of you at ease. I saw Kamalji make my parents so comfortable.

He has the qualities of true leadership.

As a fan, would you like Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth to come together?

You know if Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth are cast together, it would be disastrous.

The two actors' iconic images are so strong their fan clubs would battle it out to the finish line.

You know, when Rajinikanth's fan club felt A R Rahman had given better music in a Kamal Haasan starrer, it was up in arms against Rahman.

They wanted to break his car!

In a film, Ramya Krishnan playfully put her leg in Rajni's face. She had to be given special protection for months for disrespecting an icon.

You feel a sense of kinship with him?

I can't ever hope to be anywhere near him in terms of acting potential, screen presence, dancing abilities or comic timing.

When we worked together in Anbe Sivam, it was an experience that defied description.

I didn't know how I'd behave with him or whether I would match his standards.

But it was wonderful how he took me under his wings.

Kamal Haasan is the most dedicated actor I've come across.

Though I'm far less experienced and talented, he never got patronising.

While doing Anbe Sivam, we represented the purest form of the guru-shishya parampara.

He gave his interpretations of scenes and most of the time he was right.

Understandably, he gets all the flak when one of his starrers doesn't do well and all the praise if it does. And why not?

A Kamal Haasan film will always be a Kamal Haasan film.

I'd like to do the kind of roles that Kamal Haasan does. Daringly different and always the unexpected.

I hold him in the greatest esteem. I'd be happy if I achieve even a fraction of what he has.