Kamal Haasan says he held Dilip Kumar’s hand, ‘begged’ him to work in Thevar Magan Hindi remake: ‘I wanted to but he had decided…’

Kamal Haasan has been actively selling his upcoming movie Vikram throughout India and in a latest occasion in Mumbai, the actor-filmmaker mentioned that movies communicate a common language and unite folks from all walks of life.

The actor mentioned, “Films speak a global language. We are a country with such diversity and fantastic unity. We, as a country, don’t speak one language but sing the National Anthem with pride. There is one sensibility that unites us all. Films participate in the duty of uniting people. This is the only place you don’t check the caste and status of the man sitting next to you in the cinema hall. You buy a ticket and that’s it.”

Kamal mentioned that so long as an Indian movie was succeeding, it doesn’t matter what language, it’s a trigger for celebration. “It is not a South film that is succeeding, it’s an Indian film succeeding. That’s always better than a Hollywood film succeeding. Mughal-E-Azam, Sholay and so many others have seen national success. Mughal-E-Azam is not just intelligence, it’s guts. It took decades to make the film. We should respect each other. Films don’t have a single language, films always unite,” he mentioned.

Haasan labored in lots of Hindi movies within the Eighties specifically Ek Duje Ke Liye, Saagar, amongst others. Here, he was requested what has modified since these instances within the workings of each industries and the actor mentioned, “nothing.” Talking in regards to the success of RRR, KGF 2, Pushpa The Rise within the Hindi talking belt, the actor recalled that even a movie like Sholay had the same impact within the Tamil movie trade. “Like when Sholay came, some of the Tamil filmmakers said they will never let these (Hindi) films come here because they will never be able to make these movies so why should we allow them. They got scared of films like Sholay and many others,” he mentioned.

Best of Express PremiumPremiumPremiumPremiumPremium

Kamal recalled that it was Gulzar’s 1973 movie Achanak that impressed him to develop into a director. He recalled that watching movies like these, even when he didn’t perceive the language, had a profound impact on him. “I wanted to become a director and not an actor when I saw Achanak, what a great film. I didn’t speak the language but cinema spoke to me. It doesn’t matter whether it is Mughal-E-Azam or Achanak or Padosan, it touches my heart. Nothing has changed except the audience having newer experiences and forgetting the older memories. I am closer to the audience today than my predecessors,” he mentioned.

Kamal Haasan began his profession as an actor in 1973 with Ok. Balachander’s Arangetram and subsequent 12 months, he’ll full 50 years within the movie trade as an actor. When requested if his strategy of signing movies has modified that actor casually mentioned, “I am on a holiday and they pay me for it. I love my work, I love cinema as much as you do.” He added, “I sign it (film) with the same love as I sign an autograph. I live up to the promise whether or not I have signed on that paper. I am a lawyer’s son so I do understand the importance of papers otherwise the papers don’t matter. My paper is my tongue and my pen is my mind.”

Vikram is helmed by Lokesh Kanagaraj.

The Vishwaroopam actor opened up about his one remorse in practically 50 years of working in cinema and shared that he actually missed Dilip Kumar and had missed working with him. Remembering the legendary actor, he mentioned, “I love acting with actors. There’s one actor whom I miss and I really wanted to work with, he was Dilip Kumar. I really held Dilip saab’s hand and begged him but he had decided not to act. I wanted to make Thevar Magan with him and me, but it didn’t happen so I gave it to another friend and he made it with Anil Kapoor saab and Amrish Puri saab (as Virasat).”

Vikram, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, additionally stars Vijay Sethupathi and Fahadh Faasil. The movie will launch in Tamil and Hindi on June 3.