Madurai: Brand-new politician Kamal Haasan may have to wait for some time to prove his mettle at the polls but he has already proved to be a winner at __ repartee. With the former Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi, the original master of the craft, not being active for more than a year owing to ill-health, Mr Haasan has stepped into the witty shoes of the veteran politician.
Mr Haasan's recent utterances are laced with humour, sarcasm and riposte, and his entry has indeed spiced up Tamil Nadu's political landscape, which is usually full of dreary rhetoric. When the actor was on Tuesday asked about DMK working president M.K. Stalin's “paper flower” jibe at him, he instantaneous reply was: “I'm not a flower; I'm a seed. I have no fragrance but I'm sown.”
The three-time national award winner followed it up with another sharp response on Wednesday after being “denied entry” to former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's school in Rameswaram. “I can be denied entry to school but no one can stop me from learning,” he said. Mr Haasan may well have added that school and he are strange bedfellows, having dropped out of it after eighth standard.
Actor Sripriya, who has featured alongside Mr Haasan in more than 30 films, said humour has always been his “forte”. “I would say he used to be wittier in the sets,” she added. Mr Haasan tickled the funny bone of the twitterati last year when he referred to H. Raja as an “ortho specialist” after the BJP leader had called him “spineless” and state minister Sellur K. Raju “thermo coal scientist” for his 'ingenuity' to prevent the evaporation of Vaigai water. The seasoned actor's presence of mind came to the fore when a reporter on Tuesday sought his response for PMK founder S. Ramadoss's assertion that “Kamal would not get more than 10 per cent of votes.” “That is the opinion of the elders including my brother Charuhaasan but let's see what the youth say,” he said.
Lyricist Pa Vijay said he is a “big fan” of Mr Haasan's spontaneity. “As I know him personally, I can vouch for his fantastic command over Tamil. He has the uncanny ability to come up with stunning one liners. His presence of mind is indeed comparable to Kalaignar's. I was bowled over by his reaction to the school episode in Rameswaram,” he added. In an interview published in a Tamil magazine on Wednesday, Mr Haasan recounted an incident that threw more light on his gift of the gab. “I once said Kannadasan, Kalaignar and Sivaji Ganesan taught me Tamil free of cost. The next day MGR, then Tamil Nadu chief minister, asked me over the phone: 'What about me?' I told him you are a vaathiyar (teacher) in all subjects,” he said.
