Kamal Haasan bats for Visaaranai at the Oscars

The last Tamil film to go to the Oscars as India’s official entry was Kamal Haasan’s Hey Ram. Now that another Tamil film, Visaaranai, has been chosen for the honour, the actor is delighted.

He says, “I endorsed Visaaranai to the Tamil audience even before its release. I was glad to see Indian cinema graduating towards realistic ‘dracumentry’. Like most Indian audience, I am so repulsed by the same menu offered with very little variation.”

Commenting on the film’s brutally violent content the actor adds, “The violence shown in Visaaranai is representative. Real life is much worse. To achieve a state of ahimsa (non-violence), one needs at least elementary knowledge of the bleeding edge of himsa (violence). Ignorance of himsa, or refusal to look at it, or recommending others to turn their faces away amounts to blind-folding the society from knowing violent facts.”

The representation of violence Kamal believes is necessary, given the wave of ‘pseudo-sanitation’ that has washed over the country.  “Our gods are so violent. So, it is violence in emulation of our gods. Visaaranai is just a step forward. More will come from not only Tamil Nadu, but from all states of India. I am a fan of Gandhiji and yet I endorse Visaaranai. Part of the psycho-sanitation  this country badly requires.”