'I have joined a Rs 100 crore club that no actor in India, it seems, will dare join,' the actor tells Subhash K Jha.
There seems to be no end to Kamal Haasan's legal troubles over the Tamil version of Bigg Boss that he began hosting last month.
After being legally reprimanded for naming the assault victim in a South Indian actress' molestation case, Kamal Haasan has now been pulled up -- along with the television channel hosting the show -- for the use of a Tamil word indicating slum by a contestant.
Puthiya Tamizhagam President Dr K Krishnaswamy sent a Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) legal notice citing defamation to Kamal Haasan and the channel, alleging that the word hurt the sentiments of an entire community.
"I have joined a Rs 100 crore club that no actor in India, it seems, will dare join," says Kamal Haasan.
The same organisation, and the same individual, he says, sued him many years ago.
"The same noble man fought to change the title of my film, Sandiyar. He said it glorified rogues and thugs. Where was his wrath when, a few years later, a film with the same name was released?" Kamal Haasan asked.
Kamal Haasan's Sandiyar was released as Virumaandi in 2004.
Ten years later, another Tamil film called Sandiyar, starring Nayakam, Paandithurai, Kayal, Jagan, Singham Puli, was released.
"This gentleman speaks on command," Kamal Haasan adds. "I am born free and will fight to live and die that way."
