Angry at long, indecent letter in Tamil sent to Gautamiji in my name: Kamal Haasan

Mumbai: I have known Kamal Haasan long enough to be considered a part of his inner circle. I’ve seen him go through several crises in life, blows delivered by fate that would have left us ordinary mortals devastated and writhing on the ground.

But Kamalji (we address each other as ‘ji’ as he insists on doing with everyone including his own children) has picked himself up each time and gathered together all his strength to emerge a champion survivor. A born fighter, a cogent thinker, an intellectual and an atheist; Kamalji is all of this, and more. Some day soon I hope to put together my biography on this fascinating man who loves cinema more than his own life. And loves his daughters more than even cinema.

The latest blow, and the one that was least expected, came this week, just days ahead of his 62nd birthday, when his soul-mate Gautami decided to leave him. Kamalji didn’t want out. She did. He tried to reason, protest, cajole, plead and pacify, but she was adamant. He then gave in to her wish and let her go. He insisted that she wait until she finds a proper accommodation for herself and her daughter Subbulaxmi whom Kamalji dotes on like he does on his other two daughters Shruti and Akshara.

From the time Gautami came into his life Kamalji took charge of her daughter. I know the bond that Kamalji shares with Subbu is precious. The girl is grieved by the breach in her mother’s bonding with the man who was father to her for 13 years. Kamalji has ensured her doors to his home and heart is always open to Subbu. She can walk in any time. So can Gautami.

As I watch him struggle with yet another trauma, I wonder why some are chosen for special bumps from the powers above. Time and time again, Kamalji has been walloped on his heart. When his second wife Sarika and he parted ways, he was shattered and battling the bottle to get over his grief. This time he is stronger, perhaps wiser.

There are rumours that Gautami “got tired of Kamal Haasan’s womanising ways.” Oh, please! Spare us these simplistic solutions to complex problems of the heart that have no clear demarcations and definitions. It’s easy to pin some easily identifiable transgression on a man when a woman walks out. But every broken relationship is not about infidelity. Sometimes a partner outgrows a relationship to the extent that it doesn’t matter how much the break would affect the other partner.

As Kamalji faces stretches of loneliness in the months ahead I can only extend a hand of empathy, hoping that the wound would once again heal. It is a tall order. At the moment he needs to heal both physically (after a massive accident that left him with multi-fractures in his leg) and emotionally. He needs to get to work. But can’t until December. The spirit is willing. The flesh is not.

He also needs his privacy. On Tuesday he spoke extensively to me on the sudden emotional trauma in his life .We decided to put out a few lines only about the break with Gautami. A few hours later, an angry fan of Kamalji put out a nasty letter in Tamil lashing out at Gautamiji in Kamal Hasan’s name.

Kamalji was shocked and he reacted on twitter against the indecent violation of a very sensitive space in his life by an overzealous, abusive fan. Jumping on his words, a section of the media presumed he was reacting to his quotes on the break put out by me.

Let it be stated once and for all that I would never need to manufacture quotes from Kamalji. I am an integral part of his life. I have unlimited access to his life and words.

Explains Kamalji, “That was in reply to a long indecent letter in Tamil addressed to Gautami ji in my name. The letter tried pitifully to sound like me and used coarse language hooded in archaic Tamil. My twitter reaction was to that letter. I tweeted in Tamil. You are a friend and yes. I spoke to you.”

And so you shall do in future too. I hope at least a bit of the hurt would be healed on November 7 when you turn a year older and a lot wiser.