Kamal Haasan, Vishwaroopam 2, and Politics

I’ve known the enterprising Mr. Kamal Haasan for 18 years now. We’ve faced some choppy weather in our relationship, brought on, I might add, by his unforeseen shift into a sultry withdrawal.  But for most of these 18 years, he has been a warm and dependable friend and a caring individual.

Many feel Vishwaroopam 2 is his last film, as he’s now stepping into active politics. I don’t know why this impression is being allowed to foster. Perhaps some people around  Kamal Saab feel this perception will help Vishwaroopam 2 sell better. After all, Pakeezaah became a blockbuster only after Meena Kumari died.

But rest assured the Kamal-eon actor is not going anywhere. Not for politics.  Not for any lure on this earth. In fact, I feel Mr. Haasan’s decision to move towards rajniti is as misplaced as Mr. Bachchan’s move in the same direction. Kamal Haasan’s feet are way too clean to bear the muck and mire, or as Mr. Bachchan famously described it, the cesspool of politics.

Why can’t he continue to make fiercely political films like Hey Ram (the most underrated Kamal Haasan film of all times), Dasavatharam, Vishwaroopam and now its sequel which if I am not mistaken was shot largely alongside the first Vishwaroopam film, Baaahubali style. Only the action needed to be shot afresh.

So what took Vishwaroopam so long to crystallize and get into theatres? It is shot in two different languages Hindi and Tamil and dubbed into Telugu. But more than the linguistic hurdles I think it is Kamal Haasan’s penchant for getting it right that held the film over. Vishwaroopam 2 deals with global terrorism. He won’t compromise with his vision of a world held to ransom by a bunch of self-appointed jihadis. The last time he released Vishwaroopam, Tamil Nadu’s then-Chief Minister threatened to ban the film.

The release of the sequel is far more smooth. I suspect this time the focus would be on the film and not the politics behind it.

Must Read: Vishwaroopam 2 Gets Away With Gruesome Violence

Artists don’t belong in that cesspool

Which Amitabh Bachchan once famously spoke about.

Not true artists. The only unsuccessful thing that the indomitable Lata Mangeshkar had dine in her life was her stint in the Rajya Sabha. And Sachin Tendulkar was no better.

The very idea that Kamal Haasan would retire from active acting for active politics is as ridiculous as to suggest that Lataji would give up singing to weave handloom dupattas for destitute girls in Muzaffarpur.

Sure, the idea of Kamal Haasan The Politician rings a bell. But the place where he can make a difference is the cinema and not parliament. He is well-equipped to address the issues that bother him without stepping into politics, So why is he doing it? And is he really doing it?  I can say with a fair amount of certainty that Rajinikanth won’t because… well, he can’t. Kamal Haasan can cope with politics. But it is not his forte. He will be a disaster as a politician.

Someone somewhere is trying to tell Kamal Haasan that politics is not his cup of coffee. Filtered or otherwise. The politics, not the coffee.