Kamal Haasan Meets The Queen Elizabeth 2

When a delegation of distinguished artistes and entertainers from India were taken to meet the British Queen Elizabeth 2 earlier this week in London, the Tamilian chameleon had an advantage of his peers.

He had meet the Queen before, and that  too  on the sets of his own film in Chennai.

Says Kamal findlly, “I was honoured to be part of the delegation chosen  by the Prime Minister as part of the Indo-British culturalprogramme.”

Kamal Haasan reminded the Queen of their earlier visit on the sets of his ambitious historical opus Marudhanayagam. It was October 16, 1997 when Queen Elizabeth 2  visited Kamal Haasan’s set. The Queen  was in India and expressed desire to see the shooting of an Indian film.

“We were honoured when the Queen had visited our set.It was memorable half an hour visit. She was filled with curious questions about the character that I was playing,” recalls Kamal Haasn.

Amrish Puri, and Kamal’s mentor Shivaji Ganesan were also on the sets. Kamal had shown the Queen footage of a battle scene fromMarudhanayagam.

“Tragically the film never got made. The economics didn’t work out.It remains my one unfulfilled dream,” sighs the mighty Haasan.

And now 20 years later there was Kamal Haasan face-to-face with the Queen again.

Says Kamal, “The Queen seemed in good health and remembered her visit to India fondly.  The Duke of Edinburgh was in great shape and health as well. The exchange was brief as there were too many people. You might remember during Her Majesty’s visit to India she visited my film set. Probably the only film shooting she had attended in her whole life.”