As the Superstar of Tamil Cinema, Kamal Hassan celebrates his 63rd birthday today, we can’t help but wonder how does he manage so many things at a time. Not only acting, this man is a director, screenwriter, lyricist, as well as a playback singer. There’s not just one area but he excels in several fields.
Although the actor has achieved so much that it’s practically impossible to make a list of his accomplishments, here we are going to enlist some interesting facts about his life that make him one of the most successful stars of all times:
- Even though he made his debut in the year 1975 with the movie Apoorva Raagangal in the lead role, he had already acted in many films as a child artist.
Image Courtesy: Lankasri
- He was first seen in the movie Kalathur Kannamma in 1959 and won the prestigious President’s Gold Medal for his performance. After that, he did 5 more films as a child actor.
- At the age of just 18 years, Kamal Hassan was already writing scripts, and that too with an unmatchable level of intellect. His first script was about the film Unrachigal which narrates the story of a poor man who saves a woman from the flesh trade and eventually falls in love with her. As the movie was too forward for that time, it had to face a lot troubled from the censor board.
- He is the only actor to have featured in movies in 6 different languages namely- Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali, and Kannada. He also became the only Indian actor (after Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan in Bollywood) to receive a remuneration of INR 1 Crore for a single movie.
- Kamal Hassan is one of those actors who can literally go to any height for his looks for a character in his movies. Whether it’s the role of Laxmi in Chachi 420 or the role of a dwarf in the film Appu Raja, Hassan has done it all! He even played 10 different roles for the movie Dasavathaaram, which was released in Hindi as Dashavatar. He is literally a chameleon.
Image Courtesy: Lankasri
- Needless to say, in a career spanning 4 decades and having worked in more than 200 films, the list of awards and rewards that the actor has earned is endless.
- Apart from the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan, the actor has received 4 national awards, 19 Filmfare awards, 8 Vijay Awards, and a Living Legend Award by FICCI. Besides, 8 of his movies have been nominated for Oscars in the Best Foreign Film category.
Image Courtesy: Rediff.com
- Once, Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino had revealed that the animation sequence of Kill Bill was actually inspired from Kamal Hassan’s Abhay. His knowledge about films, literature, and History is considered to be “encyclopedic” by filmmaker Barrie M. Osborne.
- As per Wikipedia, Kamal Hassan is the first actor to convert his fan clubs into welfare organizations, through which he carries out various social services. Not only his fan clubs organize blood and eye donation drives, but they also donate education material to the students.
- Unlike celebrities who are commonly seen in advertisements, he rarely endorses any commercial brand. He even stated if he ever acts in a commercial, the revenue would go to HIV affected children.
As far as the birthday celebrations are concerned, the actor has decided to cancel all plans and visit the people affected by torrential rains in Chennai. Wow! What a man! Happy Birthday, Kamal Hassan!
