Just a few days in the past, an actor shared a reel on Instagram strolling by means of a staircase on the workplace of Raaj Kamal Movies Worldwide, Kamal Haasan’s manufacturing banner. The pathway was adorned with framed posters of movies bankrolled by the legendary actor, most starring himself. The multi-hyphenate veteran sports activities totally different hats, together with actor, movie director, screenwriter, choreographer, playback singer, lyricist, tv presenter, social activist, and now even politician. Nevertheless, a side of Kamal that doesn’t get highlighted usually is the producer in him. The journey has been lengthy — 42 years to be exact — and in addition arduous.
Past the royal gaze
1981 is arguably one of the crucial necessary years in Kamal’s profession. After his breakthrough roles in Okay. Balachander’s Apoorva Raagangal (1975) and A.S. Prakasam’s Pattaampoochi (1975), only a 12 months after making his solo lead debut with the Malayalam movie Kanyakumari, Kamal and Balachander set their gaze up north. Bollywood was not solely new to them; the legendary filmmaker had made Aaina (1977) which additionally featured Kamal in an uncredited position. But it surely was in 1981 that they collaborated for Ek Duuje Ke Liye, the movie which made Bollywood take discover of this solid and crew from the south. By then, Kamal had raked up 99 movies in his filmography, and for the landmark enterprise Raja Paarvai (concurrently made in Telugu as Amavasya Chandrudu), he turned producer. Helmed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao, with whom Kamal had earlier teamed for the Telugu movie Sommokadidhi Sokokadidhi (1979), the movie was produced by the actor alongside together with his brother Chandrahasan beneath the banner Haazan Brothers. Regardless of the movie not being a hit upon launch, it attained cult standing aside from giving us one in every of Tamil cinema’s most vital producers.
A nonetheless from ‘Raja Paarvai’
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5 years later, Kamal bankrolled Vikram, one in every of Tamil cinema’s most bold makes an attempt on the time, and the manufacturing home’s identify was modified to Raaj Kamal Movies Worldwide. The very subsequent 12 months, the banner’s third enterprise was out, however this time Kamal didn’t star within the lead. The movie, Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupaadu, was a Sathyaraj starrer and was directed by Santhana Bharathi, who, aside from taking part in an uncredited cameo in Raja Paarvai, would go on to direct Gunaa and Mahanadhi with Kamal aside from starring in a number of movies alongside the actor.
The banner’s subsequent movie was Sathya (1988). Starring Kamal as an indignant younger man, the cult traditional marked the directorial debut of Suresh Krissna. Suresh labored within the veteran producer L.V. Prasad’s Ek Duuje Ke Liye earlier than turning Balachander’s assistant director. Sathya was adopted by one other collaboration with Singeetam Srinivasa Rao and this time, it was for Apoorva Sagodharargal (1989). Typically thought of one in every of Kamal’s greatest movies, it grew to become the highest-grossing Tamil movie on the time.
Muse of comedy and tragedy
The 90s noticed Kamal backing movies that had been comedy capers or severe dramas. For Raaj Kamal Movies, the last decade began with one more cult traditional, Thevar Magan. Like a lot of his movies throughout this period, the story was penned by Kamal, drawing inspiration from The Godfather and the Kannada movie Kaadu (1973). Aside from that includes the stalwarts of Indian cinema, Sivaji Ganesan and Kamal, the movie marked their collaboration after Parthal Pasi Theerum (1962), the place Kamal was a baby artiste, in addition to Satyam (1976) and Naam Pirandha Mann (1977), which served as the idea for Kamal’s 1996 movie Indian.
In 1994, Raaj Kamal Movies produced one more movie with out Kamal taking part in the lead. The movie was Magalir Mattum, directed by Singeetam. Impressed by the American movie 9 to five (1980), Kamal, aside from taking part in a cameo, wrote the movie’s plot which was was a screenplay by Loopy Mohan with whom he first collaborated for Apoorva Sagodharargal. Kamal additionally produced the Hindi remake of it, Girls Solely, and reprised the position performed by Nagesh within the authentic movie, however the accomplished movie was by no means launched theatrically.
Nonetheless from ‘Apoorva Sagothargal’
The subsequent 12 months, Kamal produced and starred in Sathi Leelavathi and Kuruthipunal. Whereas the previous was a comedy traditional by Balu Mahendra, Kuruthipunal, the remake of the Hindi movie Drohkaal, was ace cinematographer P.C. Sreeram’s sophomore directorial. The movie influenced a wave of filmmakers and the identify of the fictional covert operation from the movie impressed a younger actor named Venkatesh Prabhu to undertake the display identify Dhanush.
Kamal the producer wrapped up the 90s together with his banner’s first Hindi movie, Chachi 420, the remake of his very personal Tamil film Avvai Shanmugi. With advert filmmaker Shantanu Sheorey initially connected to the mission, Kamal took over the directing reins in addition to reprising the position he performed within the authentic movie.
The beginning of the brand new millennium was fairly a blended bag for Raaj Kamal Movies. Kamal was recent off the Marudhanayagam debacle — a movie that was launched in 1997 within the presence of Queen Elizabeth II and touted to be the costliest movie to be made in India throughout that interval, just for it to undergo varied manufacturing troubles and get shelved. Kamal began 2000 with Hey Ram which he wrote, directed, and produced. Regardless of bringing in skills like Shah Rukh Khan, Hema Malini, Rani Mukerji, Naseeruddin Shah, and Om Puri, and successful vital acclaim, the movie is alleged to have underperformed on the field workplace.
The banner returned to comedy with Nala Damayanthi (2003). The movie was speculated to be a derivative of Kamal’s Palakkad Brahmin prepare dinner Kameshwaran character from Michael Madana Kama Rajan (1990) and made into a movie titled Londonil Kameshwaran. However Kamal opted to not play the lead and gave that position to his Anbe Sivam co-star Madhavan. Filmmaker Moulee, who helmed the profitable Kamal-starrer Pammal Okay. Sambandam, was again within the director’s seat for Nala Damayanthi which additionally featured a Kamal cameo in his signature Virumaandi look.
Virumaandi was additionally a Raaj Kamal product. Launched as Sandiyar, the movie confronted backlash even earlier than its launch, prompting Kamal to vary the title to Virumaandi, and regardless of the snags, the movie grew to become a business success. Subsequent got here Mumbai Xpress which was concurrently made in Hindi and Tamil. The comedy caper couldn’t match the mammoth success of Kamal’s earlier collaborations with director Singeetam. Raaj Kamal wrapped up the last decade with the remake of the 2008 Hindi movie A Wednesday!, titled Unnaipol Oruvan, which was additionally concurrently made in Telugu as Eenadu.
Kamal Haasan in a nonetheless from ‘Virumaandi’
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The movie was helmed by Chakri Toleti, a baby artiste in Kamal’s Saagara Sangamam (1983) and a co-star in Dasavathaaram (2008).
An incarnation of a star
Regardless of headlining, directing, and producing a number of big-budget movies, no different movies appear to have examined Kamal and his manufacturing home as a lot as their 2013 movie Vishwaroopam did. The movie was initially deliberate for a direct-to-home (DTH) premiere and after backlash from theatre homeowners, the thought was dropped. Though cleared by the censors, it noticed some Muslim teams calling for its ban, claiming that the movie would harm the group’s sentiments. The ban in Tamil Nadu additionally led to the suspension of screenings in neighbouring Indian States and international markets. Kamal said in a press meet that he had invested all his properties into the movie and the problems created by a number of events have made him ponder the thought of leaving the nation. After the bigwigs of Indian cinema from Rajinikanth to Shah Rukh Khan criticised the developments and after a mutual settlement was reached, the ban was lifted and Vishwaroopam went on to turn into one of many highest-grossing Tamil movies.
Raaj Kamal Movies Worldwide’s subsequent mission was Uttama Villain which additionally noticed its fair proportion of monetary points earlier than launch. The banner adopted it up with Thoongaa Vanam, an official remake of the French movie Sleepless Evening (2011). Submit Vishwaroopam II’s delayed launch, Kamal bankrolled Kadaram Kondan. The movie starred Vikram within the lead with Kamal’s daughter Akshara Haasan and the actor’s longtime collaborator Nassar’s son Abi Hassan.
Nonetheless from ‘Vishwaroopam’
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An thrilling decade unfolding…
Kamal and his manufacturing home began their spectacular 2020 innings with Vikram, the second instalment in director Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Cinematic Universe and a non secular successor to the 1986 movie of the identical identify. A die-hard fan of Kamal, Lokesh had talked about a number of occasions how Sathyaa and Virumaandi influenced him to take up path and their collaboration broke a number of data. The movie is alleged to be Kamal’s highest-grossing Tamil movie of all time.
Following the success of Vikram, the manufacturing home is bankrolling the Sivakarthikeyan-Sai Pallavi starrer Amaran which is slated to launch this Deepavali. An adaptation of the ebook collection India’s Most Fearless: True Tales of Fashionable Army Heroes, the movie is a biographical of Main Mukund Varadarajan. Some of the thrilling initiatives in growth is Thug Life, collectively produced by Raaj Kamal Movies Worldwide, Madras Talkies, and Purple Big Motion pictures. The movie reunites Kamal Haasan with Mani Ratnam after their legendary collaboration in Nayakan (1987).
Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam on the units of ‘Thug Life’.
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Kamal Haasan’s manufacturing ventures have made a reputation for themselves throughout the world of cinema with Thevar Magan, Kuruthipunal, and Hey Ram being chosen as India’s official entry for the Academy Awards for these respective years. Aside from presenting their very own titles, Raaj Kamal Movies has additionally distributed movies comparable to Gunaa (1991), Avvai Shanmughi (1996), Panchatanthiram (2002) and the Tamil dubbed model of 83 (2021). It’s beneath his manufacturing that Kamal has tried his hand at a number of filmmaking applied sciences; the primary Tamil movie to have its screenplay written with software program was Thevar Magan, the primary Indian movie to make use of Dolby Stereo encompass SR expertise was Kuruthipunal and the primary Indian movie to utilise Auro 3D sound expertise was Vishwaroopam. A number of Indian actors have turned producers however not everybody has persistently churned out blockbusters beneath their banner. It’s as if the legendary actor had a royal imaginative and prescient to supply Raja Paarvai in 1981 and his upcoming movie Thug Life sounds befitting, given the journey Kamal Haasan the producer has gone by means of.
Revealed – October 25, 2024 02:53 pm IST
