My fans are free to vote for whomsoever they want during the forthcoming Assembly Elections; after all it is a democratic country. But when they enter my Fans Welfare Association compound, they should shun politics and be neutral,” remarked Kamal Haasan at the launch of his trilingual film Sabaash Naidu in Tamil and Telugu and Sabaash Kundu in Hindi at the Nadigar Sangam’s makeshift set on Friday.
The film will mark the coming together of Ilaiyaraaja and Kamal after a gap of 11 years, and it is for the first time that Shruti Haasan will share the screen with her father, while also playing his daughter!
Interestingly, Ulaganayagan’s second daughter Akshara is alo involved in this movie — as an assistant director to ace Rajeev Kumar, who wields the megaphone for a Kamal movie, after a gap of 25 years. Many celebrities including Nadigar Sangam honchos Nasser, Vishal, Karthi, and Prabhu were present at this occasion.
Delving deeper into the film, Kamal said, “The movie has an original script and I play Balram Naidu, inspired from one of my characters in Dasavatharam. But Sabaash Naidu is not a sequel; it is about Naidu’s family and a humorous thriller.”
“I don’t want anyone saying that Shruti got a break because she is my daughter. She is a star in her own right.
The Raaj Kamal banner is making use of her stardom for their production venture,” he asserts. Ramya Krishnan is essaying Kamal’s romantic partner on-screen. (remember their rollicking on-screen chemistry in Panchathanthiram?)
The actor also revealed that SN commences its shoot on May 14 in Los Angeles, USA and will be extensively shot there, with a few portions in India.
While veteran actor-filmmaker Saurabh Shukla will be part of the Hindi cast in addition to penning the dialogue, Telugu comedy icon Brahmanandam will be portraying his sidekick in the other versions. Maestro Ilayaraja will be collaborating with US-based music producers District 78 for the compositions.
Reacting to a query on whether Kamal will not be there for franchising his vote on May 16, the actor was quick to react in his characteristically witty way — “Someone else will cast my vote! (laughs) My name was not in the voting list a few years back and everyone is aware of it. But, yes, I want to start our shoot on the stipulated date and I know my responsibility being a citizen of India, so I will try and make it on Election Day.”
Having had the experiences of landing into controversies with his titles, does he think the new film with the reference to a community will also face a similar situation? “Without seeing the film, one should not comment as to why I’ve used this title. When I have to talk about prohibition, I have to refer to drinks. Similarly, this movie also needed such a title.”
Apparently, Kamal has paid two and a half lakh as hiring charges for using the Nadigar Sangam premises and his producers Lyca International donated '1 crore for the construction of the sangam’s building.
Kamal has been supportive of the newly formed Nadigar Sangam right from its inception. But he refused to comment when asked about why youngsters like Ajith and Vijay did not turn up for Star Cricket. “I neither advice nor take advice from anyone. There may be so many reasons for them not to turn up for the match. I don’t want to politicise it. But, the sangam’s doors are always open to them,” he said.
