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Well, for all practical purposes, the dozen avatars is an understatement.

For that matter, anything about the professional career of Kamalhaasan is an understatement.


Take a minute to let this sink in.

  • 4 NATIONAL AWARDS,
  • 18 FILMFARE AWARDS,
  • 2 BEST ACTOR AWARDS in THE ASIAN FILM FESTIVALS,
  • 7 OFFICIAL ENTRIES to OSCARS representing the Nation,
  • The title of LIVING LEGEND, conferred by FICCI last year.
All this for donning on a different avatar each time, for that two hour on Celluloid, transporting you into another time and place, sometimes exaggerated, at times, gritty and exquisitely moving.

But regardless of the scope and inaneness of the roles he played, you sat through till the closing credits rolled up in front of you, part moved by the character, part in awe of the phenomenon who magically slips into the skin of the character he portrays in each movie.As effortlessly as a chameleon.

Maybe that epithet suits him to the 'T' - Kamal, the Consummate Chameleon.

For someone who donned that 'skin' for the first time, all of 6 years, way back in 1960, in the august company of another legend, Shivaji Ganeshan, maybe these recognitions are immaterial.

The very fact that the Indian Government awarded him the National Award for the Best Child Artiste for that very outing, was a portent of things to come.

That, for all practical purposes, ladies and gentlemen, the Consummate Chameleon for the Indian Celluloid
has arrived.
Yours truly believes the actual attempts in 'noticeable' impersonation, came along with the groundbreaking (literally!) Apoorva Sagodarangal, which had the Chameleon playing the role of a midget, a "virtually impossible feat" for the times it was released.

And along came the dual roles in Indrudu Chandrudu,and its Tamil remake, with the grotesqueness and voice modulation of the principal character that sent many a shiver down the Constant Fan's spine.

And from double roles in Indrudu Chandrudu and triple roles in Apoorva Sagodarangal, Kamalhaasan, it seems went all cylinders firing, making a mockery of the whole genre of the same actor populating the screen in different roles, with the ultimate crazy caper called Michael Madana Kamarajan, with four brothers 'separated at birth, and reuniting in a tottering wooden bunglow on the edge of the cliff with some serious gravity issues.

Conceived to be the ultimate spoof on 'Lost-and-Found' saga of Bollywood, the movie was more noticed for the hilarious puns and slapstick action scripted by Crazy Mohan. (Guess the name explains it all).

The next major 'plastic' outing came with Indian, with the dual roles of freedom fighter father and his slimy, crooked son, and it was a double bonanza. Of having venturing into his full fledged vocation of playing with 'faces", the roles also brought him the National Award for the Best Actor.

Mrs.Doubtfire in a Kanjeevaram was next in line, christened Avvai Shanmughi. Though the inspiration was lying around for everyone to see (Robin Williams, if you please), Kamalhaasan molded the concept and made it entirely Indian and his own, and had the whole country jive along with this 'hip and hip-shaking Paatty', in its two versions (Hindi and Tamil).

Though Hey Ram was a washout at the Box-office, the sheer artistry and technical perfection would not be easily forgotten by anyone who has watched the movie.

Aalavandan ( a movie adaption of his own novel called Dayam), more or less followed the footsteps of Hey Ram, but for the psychotic Nandu, a bizarre and exaggerated portrayal of the manic levels of the human mind.

And now Dashavatharam in 2008.

From Kalathur Kannamma in 1960 to Dashavatharam in the starry present, this Chameleon has come a long way.

Changing hues at the ease of a thought and a flicker, he still continues to amaze us, with his loud and exaggerated portrayals on one hand and the subdued and terribly poignant ones on the other.

When you closely look at the range of 'faces' that he had donned for the camera, you also slowly realize that at times its just that he creates a story around a face, make that Live in the story and try make you believe in it just the same.

Some nosedive into the Box-office dustbin, and other soar.

But, regardless of the outcome, he is around, ready with his next skin.
Guess after a while, the net results become relative to a 'character', who has been in the arc lights since the tender age of 6 years. A time while the rest of us usually get busy chasing butterflies or getting dunked in puddles, Master Kamalhaasan was receiving the Nation's Highest Award for emoting by an 'actor' in that age category.

Its no wonder that after a while, you reach a stage beyond comparisons, beyond the seamy eyes of Box-Office successes and failures.

When Time magazine hailed Nayagan, as one of the Top 100 movies of all times, they were making a point.

That, even the world has realized and recognized, the consummate ease at which this Chameleon changes his colors.

And if you want further proof, well, get ready for an overdose.

Ten times around. On June 13th,2008. And be convinced...

 

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