Deasavatharam awaited

I belong to a generation that grew up with the growth of Kamala Hassan. We saw him in Varumaiyin Niram Sivappu ages back as an angry young man, wondered at his dance capabilities in Saagara Sangamam when we were in our teens, admired him for Nayagan and maybe Indian, forever watched the repeated telecasts of Michael Madana Kamarajan, still look forward to the completion of Marudunayagam some day and wondered like many who appreciated his acting skills as why did he do all those mindless movies in between.

Unlike Rajinikanth's fans which spans all ages, I think Kamal's fans have matured with him. You don't have fanatic and frenzied Kamal activity like what we saw before the release of Sivaji. Perhaps it is the anticipation of a work of quality that quietens people.

I have also come to respect K.S. Ravikumar for his movie making. He has this fantastic ability to mix comedy, commercial elements and style in his narration that makes wonderful watching. I am personally looking forward to his role in this movie, he always appears in one song sequence or a small 'role' in his movies.

This movie is being compared with Rajini's Sivaji in terms of its budget, grandeur, release, prints, etc. The comparison of their movies is something both these actors will have to live with for the rest of their lives, it is a residue of a previous era that they cannot escape. However, it will not be fair to either to do this any longer. Rajini has taken the popular route whereas Kamal has taken the route of creative exploration and today both are in their zenith each achieving what would have been unthinkable when they both launched their careers. Recently our FM is supposed to have made a comment that competition between Ambani brothers is fine as long as it keeps the financial markets busy, I disagree. But, in creative arts, the perceived competition between Rajini and Kamal is fine as long as they both provide highest level of entertainment for the cinema watchers in Tamizhnadu, India and elsewhere.

The increasing interest in Indian cinema goers from Hollywood will soon translate into interest in Indian cinema. Some years back film maker Shekar Kapur made this comment that when finally Spiderman removes his mask in a few years, it is most likely that he will be an Asian, perhaps Indian. Adopting latest technologies and pursuing innovative and unique scripts would be the ideal way of setting trends and benchmarks for such an eventuality.