From ‘Raja Paarvai’ to ‘Amaran’ and ‘Thug Life’: Kamal Haasan’s evolution as a producer

From ‘Raja Paarvai’ to ‘Amaran’ and ‘Thug Life’: Kamal Haasan’s evolution as a producer

A few days ago, an actor shared a reel on Instagram walking through a staircase at the office of Raaj Kamal Films International, Kamal Haasan’s production banner. The pathway was adorned with framed posters of films bankrolled by the legendary actor, most starring himself. The multi-hyphenate veteran sports different hats, including actor, film director, screenwriter, choreographer, playback singer, lyricist, television presenter, social activist, and now even politician. However, a facet of Kamal that does not get highlighted often is the producer in him. The journey has been long — 42 years to be precise — and also arduous.

1981 is arguably one of the most important years in Kamal’s career. After his breakthrough roles in K. Balachander’s Apoorva Raagangal (1975) and A.S. Prakasam’s Pattaampoochi (1975), just a year after making his solo lead debut with the Malayalam film Kanyakumari, Kamal and Balachander set their gaze up north. Bollywood was not entirely new to them; the legendary filmmaker had made Aaina (1977) which also featured Kamal in an uncredited role. But it was in 1981 that they collaborated for Ek Duuje Ke Liye, the film which made Bollywood take notice of this cast and crew from the south. By then, Kamal had raked up 99 films in his filmography, and for the landmark venture Raja Paarvai (simultaneously made in Telugu as Amavasya Chandrudu), he turned producer. Helmed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao, with whom Kamal had earlier teamed for the Telugu film Sommokadidhi Sokokadidhi (1979), the film was produced by the actor along with his brother Chandrahasan under the banner Haazan Brothers. Despite the film not being a success upon release, it attained cult status apart from giving us one of Tamil cinema’s most significant producers.

Five years later, Kamal bankrolled Vikram, one of Tamil cinema’s most ambitious attempts at the time, and the production house’s name was changed to Raaj Kamal Films International. The very next year, the banner’s third venture was out, but this time Kamal did not star in the lead. The film, Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupaadu, was a Sathyaraj starrer and was directed by Santhana Bharathi, who, apart from playing an uncredited cameo in Raja Paarvai, would go on to direct Gunaa and Mahanadhi with Kamal apart from starring in multiple films alongside the actor.

The banner’s next film was Sathya (1988). Starring Kamal as an angry young man, the cult classic marked the directorial debut of Suresh Krissna. Suresh worked in the veteran producer L.V. Prasad’s Ek Duuje Ke Liye before turning Balachander’s assistant director. Sathya was followed by another collaboration with Singeetam Srinivasa Rao and this time, it was for Apoorva Sagodharargal (1989). Often considered one of Kamal’s best films, it became the highest-grossing Tamil film at the time.

The 90s saw Kamal backing films that were comedy capers or serious dramas. For Raaj Kamal Films, the decade started with yet another cult classic, Thevar Magan. Like many of his films during this era, the story was penned by Kamal, drawing inspiration from The Godfather and the Kannada film Kaadu (1973). Apart from featuring the stalwarts of Indian cinema, Sivaji Ganesan and Kamal, the film marked their collaboration after Parthal Pasi Theerum (1962), where Kamal was a child artiste, as well as Satyam (1976) and Naam Pirandha Mann (1977), which served as the basis for Kamal’s 1996 film Indian.

In 1994, Raaj Kamal Films produced yet another film without Kamal playing the lead. The film was Magalir Mattum, directed by Singeetam. Inspired by the American film 9 to 5 (1980), Kamal, apart from playing a cameo, wrote the film’s plot which was turned into a screenplay by Crazy Mohan with whom he first collaborated for Apoorva Sagodharargal. Kamal also produced the Hindi remake of it, Ladies Only, and reprised the role played by Nagesh in the original film, but the completed film was never released theatrically.

The next year, Kamal produced and starred in Sathi Leelavathi and Kuruthipunal. While the former was a comedy classic by Balu Mahendra, Kuruthipunal, the remake of the Hindi film Drohkaal, was ace cinematographer P.C. Sreeram’s sophomore directorial. The film influenced a wave of filmmakers and the name of the fictional covert operation from the film inspired a young actor named Venkatesh Prabhu to adopt the screen name Dhanush.