Kamal Haasan & his tumultuous life
Kamal Haasan talks about his tumultuous personal life and the challenge of releasing Vishwaroopam on satellite TV
Where has your conflict with multiplexes over the proposed DTH (direct -to-home) premiere of Vishwaroopam reached?
We have booked theatres in the South, but a section there is still opposed to it. In Mumbai, PVR was supportive enough initially but suddenly, they backed out. Subsequently, I tried convincing them but they have not relented.
Is DTH just a way to play safe in a low satellite market?
No. Let me tell you that unlike in Mumbai, satellite rights have risen in Tamil Nadu. I had my regular takers with substantial money but profits would have been meager. DTH ensures greater profit. Some exhibitors claimed I am driven by greed but I prefer to call it ‘opportunity’. Asked what I would do with the money, I said I would plough it back in theatres. They are needlessly worried. Seeing a film in a theatre is a cultural habit in India, it will never go away.
How did Vishwaroopam shape up?
PVP was supposed to produce Vishwaroopam but the canvas kept widening. They were kind enough to become the financers while I took over production. I got a cameraman who would work on digital cinema, an AD from the US, an art director from Vietnam, and stuntmen from Thailand and the US. It wasn’t an easy film to make. We didn’t shoot in Afghanistan since we were advised it would be unsafe. We thought of going to Kazakhstan but the people there were not film savvy. Eventually, we recreated Afghanistan in Chennai. Also, we dropped the idea of casting big stars like Sonakshi Sinha among others. We wanted the money to show in the film and not in its posters.
So you dropped her from the film?
Everything was amicable. We explained it to her. Shatrughan is like an elder brother.
You did films like Saagar, Sadma, Sanam Teri Kasam… and then you left Mumbai…
At the time of Saagar, I had done 109 films. Had I hung around here, I wouldn’t have completed 215 till date.
Weren’t you supposed to do a film with Barry Osborne?
That will happen but after I complete Vishwaroopam 2. I’ve even completed ten days shooting for it. Osborne is also helping me premiere Vishwaroopam in Los Angeles.
Tell us about your daughters Shruti and Akshara
Shruti is traveling more than I ever did. She has become very busy. However, her Ek Duuje Ke Liye is yet to come. Akshara is learning how to dance. They stay with their mother (Sarika).
Are you in touch with Sarika and Vani?
No. The parting wasn’t smooth in either case. I was too much in love for an amicable settlement. I am sure it wasn’t easy for my wives either. Marriage is not a film you can forget if it flops. I felt scarred.
Did you see the break-ups coming?
I saw them coming. Sarika and I were married for 17 years. And I knew the marriage wouldn’t last 12 years before we parted ways. Although we kept pulling on. I thought it would affect the children. I waited for them to come of age.
Both your marriages didn’t succeed. Do you think you should’ve married at all?
I never believed in marriage. People marry because of peer pressure but I don’t subscribe to the ‘herd mentality’. I shouldn’t have married. I married for the convenience of my women. Vani wouldn’t live-in and I wasn’t strong enough to put my foot down. And the society was such that Sarika and I couldn’t book a hotel room together even after we had two daughters.
Didn’t Gouthami pressure you to marry her?
Never. She is very different. She is a very progressive lady, and not just to please me.
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