What makes a Legend?

‘Jack of all trades and master of many, may be all.’ If this is true of any one person it has to be the one and only - Padmashree Dr. Kamal Haasan. Greatness is not just about how good you are, it is about how good you continue to be over years and decades, that separates the good from the great. Greatness is about being in the right place, doing the right things and living a life that puts the pursuit of perfection at the top of all priorities. If this is greatness then Kamal Haasan is surely one of the greatest that cinema Kamal Haasan has seen and will ever see. As his glowing 50 year celluloid life is poised to hit a crescendo, ready to shine at its brightest, we thought about taking all Kamal fans back in time- from the days of the toddler in Kalathur Kannamma, through the young lad learning the nuances of bharathanatyam, the assistant dance director, the beginner, the star, the master, the director, the producer, the visionary- all the way to Universal Star. Retracing the steps that took the boy from Paramakudi to the pinnacles of celluloid perfection; Kamal-the making of a legend.

Some say, ‘legends are born’. Others beg to differ, they say ‘legends are made’. When each person is born they are nothing but a mound of earth waiting to be molded, a stone waiting to be cut to diamond, a sapling waiting to be tended. Destiny chooses few among us to mold, cut and tend to greatness. Kamal Haasan was one such chosen by the hands of time to be shaped to hold greatness, not as an ornament or an attainment but as a way of life. What sets Kamal apart from other greats is that his greatness neither precedes him nor follows him, it is a part of him. Each time he performs it is not his reputation that speaks, it is that performance which is perfection personified. He does not rest on laurels nor lives in the past, he strives to construct monuments through each frame, each shot and each movie. Everyone has but one masterpiece but Kamal is one whose career is strewn with masterpieces. ‘Masterpiece-ing’ is just another day in the office for him and now he awaits us with another masterpiece which we believe will outdo, outclass and outshine all masterpieces that have been put before us in the past.

Dasavatharam, just for the sheer effort that has gone into its making will be not just a masterpiece but a masterpiece among the great masterpieces of all times and that is saying something. All people who have known Kamal’s work ethic will believe in the above statement and there is no greater testimony to a man’s greatness than the faith of the people in him.

All of us have a calling, a belief that there is purpose for our existence. Most of us keep looking for it almost all our lives, some of us are lucky enough to find it at all. Kamal identified his calling very early in life. Not many would give up regular schooling to learn dance, and more importantly, art was something he loved. Dance and music were his first passions and film was just a natural progression as the biggest stage to exhibit one’s art, as an assistant dance director. But talent as precious as Kamal’s cannot be confined for long behind the scenes, up front is where he belonged and that is where destiny took him. Of course, we are not giving destiny all the credit for creating Dr. Kamal Haasan. The hero of this tremendous
success story is Kamal himself who so gloriously lived the dream that began with Kalathur Kannamma.

Someone said, ‘destiny is a matter of choice, not of chance’. In a Harry Potter movie, Albus Dumbledore says- ‘Its not who we are or what we are that sets us apart from others, it’s the choices that we make.’ Yes, Kamal’s amazing legacy that is still a work in progress is all about the right choices being made at the right times that set him apart from all others. Not everyone (not anyone) would have dared to play a lame and unkempt villager trying to woo a girl who so obviously is not interested in him- Chappani of Pathinaaru Vayadhinile, nor the obsessed killer of Sigappu Rojakkal or the terminally ill alcoholic in Vaazhve Mayam. He made choices that were risky but set him apart. Yes, there have been setbacks but there is never a high tide unless there is a low tide and in the case of Kamal, the high tides outnumber the low ten to one. But for those who have truly appreciated what the genius of Kamal Haasan means to Indian cinema these numbers hardly matter. In cricket, commentators often use the phrase ‘Form is temporary, class is permanent’. Kamal is class and class cannot be measured, it only can be felt and experienced each time it makes its presence felt.
We have talked about his genius, his seemingly vast and immense talent, but what made Kamal Haasan the Living Legend is not his genius or talent. Yes, they played significant roles but the hero of the Kamal Haasan story is commitment and hard work, just as it is with all legends that are and have come to pass. What makes a man who has 150 movies, 3 national and a bag full of Filmfare awards, a honorary doctorate, the nations fourth highest civilian award and the title of Living Legend, sit still for six hours just to get that perfect look for a character that will appear for just minutes on the screen? What drives him to push the frontiers every time he faces the camera? We might call it the ‘pursuit of perfection’ and on principle man is not perfectible, only improvable and Kamal believes in this. That is why he is like a flowing river that never rests to enjoy the beautiful scenery that it creates by being there. The scene is for us to behold, the rivers just flows along quietly, to its next bank. Kamal creates pieces of cinematic elegance and beauty for us to marvel, he moves along to his next and the next, rising higher, pushing harder and getting better. That is why even before we have seen Dasavatharam we hear about Marmayogi and that is also why we know that Marudhanayagam will not forever remain an unaccomplished dream. That is why seven of his movies have represented India at the Oscars. Not that we care for an Oscar to recognize the genius of our Universal Star. Just that there are some people out there who are not convinced without the numbers. This is proof that Kamal Haasan is one of Indian cinema’s most valuable assets.

Dasavatharam is almost here and it might be the most appropriate time to revel in the genius of Kamal. But this is not just about Dasavatharam or any one movie. Dasavatharam or not, all that has been said above about Dr. Kamal Haasan holds true. It is not about 10 roles or one big movie, it is about the dedication of one man to what he does, the pursuit of excellence that made him the legend.