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Kamal Haasan urges fans, media and film fraternity to not address him as Ulaganayagan: ‘artist is not above art’

The actor-politician shared a note on his #Twitter handle, requesting people to refer to him ‘simply as Kamal Haasan or Kamal or KH’

Written by:
Reema Gowalla
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Kamal Lead 640x360
Kamal Haasan

Insisting that ‘the artist must not be elevated above the art’, acclaimed actor-filmmaker-politician has urged his fans, mediapersons and fellow members from the film fraternity to not address him as ‘Ulaganayagan’ (meaning ‘Universal Hero’) and any such titles.

The Indian 2 actor, who turned 70 on November 7, took to his Twitter handle to share a detailed note, written both in English and Tamil. In it, he wrote, “I have always felt a deep sense of gratitude over being bestowed with endearing titles such as Ulaganayagan, among others. Such accolades, given by the people and recognised by esteemed colleagues and admirers, has always been humbling, and I’ve been genuinely moved by your love in conferring it upon me.”

According to him, the art of cinema transcends beyond any one individual and cinema, like any other form of creative expression, belongs to all. “It is my humble belief that the artist must not be elevated above the art. I prefer to remain grounded, constantly aware of my imperfections and my duty to improve. Hence, after considerable reflection, I feel compelled to respectfully decline all such titles or prefixes. Refer to me simply as Kamal Haasan or Kamal or KH,” he added.

Counted among Indian cinema’s greatest actors, Kamal has worked in various languages. Apart from Tamil, he has acted in Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada and Bengali films. The actor was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2014, while he has also won four National Film Awards, nine Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, four Nandi Awards and one Rashtrapati Award, among others.

The recently released Tamil movie Amaran – starring Sai Pallavi, Bhuvan Arora and Rahul Bose – was co-produced by Kamal. The biographical action war film was directed by Rajkumar Periasamy. Meanwhile, the veteran actor was last seen in Kalki 2898 AD. Helmed by Nag Ashwin, the Telugu epic science fiction film also starred Amitabh Bachchan, Prabhas, Deepika Padukone and Disha Patani.