As I read the comments for an article about kamal hassan’s five best movies I noticed that he is being blamed for his recent monotonous and commonplace comedy filcks. I am writing this in his defense based on my opinions.
Since INDIAN.he has made HEY RAM, Anbe Sivam, and Virumandi which are all wonderful movies and a pure work of an accomplished and gifted true genius such as himself(except for may be Alavandhan, which was a let down in my opinion).But again all those movies were not recognized by the mass public and eventually failing to please the producers and distributors.
For the long part of my life that was spent in Chennai, I have seen that very few appreciate the quality of film making. A daily-pay worker who frequently flock some of the cheaper theaters where I have been, wishes only to sit down, relax and have a fun time. The average movie goers, some of my friends for example, does not wish to indulge in analyzing the pros and cons of a movie and again prefers fun against quality. And some, who treat cinema as a passion, are marred by controversies that somehow manage to prop up against quality movies and its makers( All the three movies mentioned above ran into ridiculous altercations).
Very few appreciate the story, screenplay, direction and other aspects which are keys to a good movie. And the more I think about it, the number seems to be on the decline leading to movies that have no sense and only masala which have become so cliched that Tamil cinema industry is slowly being branded for such hopeless movies.
The only thing that I hold up against the Master actor is his Personal life. personally I do not give a damn as to what a prestigious actor such as himself does off screen, but again many of my friends and the public in general somehow seem to sideline all his talent for his personal issues. I do believe that a actor’s individualism shows on the screen and it sure has on a few occasions in his movies but they are all something that can be treated in the true spirit of the movies if we make the effort.
So it is really not his fault that he is having to reel back to his string of comedies because after all he(any actor or moviemaker for that matter) has to make money in order to both survive and keep his producers and distributors interested in him. As long as the slow poison in cinema fan’s taste does not dilute there is no way quality movies and artists can keep their heads above the water.
Sure there have been flaws in his acting in some of the comedy flicks, but he is still the versatile actor that we know and should be hopefully seen coming back in his Epic tale ’Marudha Nayangam’ sooner than later.