A celebration of cinematic legacy

Your favourite actors are subject to change, especially when you are in your late teens to the early twenties, during which your opinion about them change after watching several movies. But, a rare breed of actors are beyond judgment and stand tall sans validation. Topping that list is Kamal Haasan, one of the finest actors our country boasts of.

The members of the MOP Vaishnav College’s Montage Club decided that their two-day event named ‘Champion of Cinema’ will be all about Ulaganayagan. The Montage Club is the brainchild of the Electronic Media department of the college and their activities include film screenings, guest lectures and workshops on cinema. The president of the club, Niranjana explained the reason behind choosing the theme — “There is no one who can deny the fact that Kamal Haasan is one of the best actors around. Last year, he was also awarded the prestigious Chevalier Award. So we wanted to design our events around him.”
Mayuri Vega, another member of the club agrees, “Nobody defines versatility in cinema the way Kamal Haasan does. And this will be a great opportunity to know more about the man from people who are close to him. We have directors, actors and technicians who worked closely with Kamal sir to talk to us about him and cinema in general.”

K Bhagyraj inaugurated the event, and other veterans of Tamil cinema including KS Ravikumar, SP Muthuraman, ‘Crazy’ Mohan and Delhi Ganesh will attend the event and interact with the students. At the inauguration, K Bhagyaraj was all praise for the actor, saying, “I have always been in awe of Kamal sir, for the way he lives the characters he plays. He taught us that one needn’t just be an actor but also learn something about every department of the film unit.”

The director/actor reminisced the days when he started off as an assistant director in Kamal Haasan’s classic film 16 Vayathinile — “On the first day of the shoot, Kamal sir called me and asked me to read out the dialogues using my own modulation, and used it when the shots were taken and I was surprised that an actor of his status actually took the suggestion of a new assistant director.”
Niranjana shares that the students are looking forward to the sessions of ‘Crazy’ Mohan in particular, as the actor-writer duo have churned out few of the most memorable comedies in Tamil cinema. “If someone tells me that nothing is funnier than the sitcom Friends, I will simply show them Michael Madana Kamarajan. I am eagerly looking forward to what Mr. Mohan will share with us. It will definitely be a humorous one hour,” she quips.

Apart from the guest speeches, the event also consists of inter collegiate talent competitions where the participants can take on the stage and sing or dance to any of Kamal’s songs or act out any memorable scene from his films. The winners of the offline Dubsmash contest where participants tried their hand at delivering Kamal Haasan’s dialogues will also be announced. This is sure one good tribute to celebrate the legacy of the Ulaganayagan.