Kamal Haasan: A Cinematic Journey

One of the greatest actors Indian has ever produced, Kamal Haasan is  a unique in many ways. He has usually gone beyond just enacting a role to completely immersing himself in it. From romance (Ek Duuje Ke Liye, Saagar, Moondram Pirai) and dramas (Salangai Oil) to action thrillers (Virumandi) to comedies (Pushpak, Michael Madana Kama Rajan); from playing a vigilante in Indian to a morally grey character in one of his frrst films and even ten different roles in Dasavatharam, Kamal has done it with aplomb.

Kamal Haasan: A Cinematic Journey explores some fifty films out of the 245 Haasan has been associated with and analyses his cinematic journey from his beginnings as a child star all the way to his latest blockbusters. It traces how, even at a young age, he took on roles other actors would be wary of, positioning himself as an object of female desire in the 1980s; balancing both comedy and tragedy with aplomb; playing formerly caricatured roles such as that of a dwarf in Apoorva Sagodharargal and a woman in Chachi 420 with dignity; and having a resurgence in 2022 with the blockbuster Vikram as well as the upcoming Indian 2. 

This book is the best introduction possible to Kamal Haasan: his life, his thoughts and his movies.