Journey of a thousand stories| Introduction | Kamal Haasan
Have you watched the classic Japanese film Rashomon? Well, it’s a film directed by master Akira Kurosawa. The story revolves around the murder of a samurai and four characters giving four different versions of the same incident, as the story begins to unfold. Named after this classic film, the ‘Rashomon effect’ became a term to describe an incident with many versions, with multiple possibilities. This film was made in the year 1950. More than half a century later, in the year 2004 a cult classic Tamil film was released. The film revolving around capital punishment was a violent, raw and compelling screenplay based on the Rashomon effect thesis. The name of the film was Virumandi, written and directed by Padma Shree Kamal Haasan.
You may know Kamal Haasan as a versatile, genius actor. But today we are going to look at the most fascinating side of his career. Let’s explore screenwriter Kamal Haasan.
When Kamal Haasan writes a film, it becomes a part of the history of Tamil cinema. First let’s have a look at all the movies written by Kamal Haasan:
· Raaja Paarvai(1981)
· Apoorva Sagotharargal(1989)
· Micheal Madhana Kamarajan(1990)
· Thevar Magan(1992)
· Mahandhi(1994)
· Hey Ram(2000)
· Aalavandhan(2001)
· Anbe Sivam(2003)
· Nala Dhamayanthi(2003)
· Virumandi(2004)
· Dasavatharam(2008)
· Manmadhan Ambu(2010)
· Vishwaroopam(2013)
To script a film upon a strong thesis, with multiple layers to it, ensuring to lure the audience into the film — that’s what makes a great screen writer. But doing the same repeatedly in multiple genres is what makes Kamal Haasan a visionary screenwriter. Today I’m going to pick four films that were penned by Kamal Haasan, one of which(Virumandi) I introduced to you in the very beginning. So hold on tight, while we explore the rest together.
Alternate History
Two decades ago, a barely touched genre in Indian film industry was alternate history. Alternate history is a genre of fiction that tells a fictional story on the lines of history. Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds and Once upon a time in Hollywood fall under this genre. Gladiator is a classic example of an alternate history film. In the year 2000, an alternate history movie revolving around the partition of India was released. The movie was ‘Hey Ram.’ The political narrative and the layers in the screenplay are finely crafted. The best part about the screenplay is the internal conflict of the character that acts as a representation of a common man’s confusion in choosing what’s right and wrong.
Altruism
Have you ever come across the term ‘altruism?’ It is a concept of helping/benefitting others at a cost and not expecting anything in return. The benefits of altruism are the intrinsic rewards like gratification and inner peace. It is a philosophical concept by origin, but today it’s a scientific concept under psychological studies. In a screenplay, either the story directs the character’s actions or the character’s actions direct the story. The best example of the latter is Anbe Sivam. The screenplay beautifully blends in concepts of communism, atheism, god and love, within the gamut of altruism in a simple manner. Anbe Sivam is a bunch of sophisticated ideas made simple for the audience to consume. A film that will leave you with a heavy heart and a wistful smile.
Comedy of Errors
What do you think when a filmmaker who has written intense, dark and philosophical films, starts writing full length comedy films? — A comedy of errors! The same happened to Kamal Haasan when he wrote a comedy inspired by Shakespeare’s play, The Comedy of Errors. The result was a blockbuster. The most spoken about comedy classic is Micheal Madhana Kama Rajan, a story about quadruplets who have been raised separately, cross roads after a series of events. One of the most wittiest comedy scripts in Tamil cinema which is as confusing as the play by Shakespeare, but nonetheless a fun ride that one craves for even after thirty years of its release. The film completed 175 days in theatres.
Hold your thought!
Now if you’re wondering why I haven’t discussed the other films which you think deserved a discussion, there are two reasons why. There will be dedicated write-ups for some movies, Mahanadhi being the first of them. Second reason is that I wanted to keep the write-up short enough to cater to the patience level of audience, which is why I got to the crux and skipped the details. There are a ton of interesting things about Kamal Haasan’s screenplays, like the Butterfly effect thesis used in Dasavatharam, the screenplay of Aalavandhan and many more. Hence, there will be series of write-ups focusing on the works of the one and only Kamal Haasan.
The series will be titled — Journey of a thousand stories.
Well, this seems like a good start. I’ll see you soon with an exciting second.
