His admirers range from the humblest fan to Mammootty, Amitabh Bachchan and now Jackie Chan. An institution in acting, Kamal Haasan has proved his calibre as a filmmaker too with classic fare like Apoorva Sahodaragal, Avvai Shanmukhi, Thevar Magan and many more. His latest film, also written by him, is the tri-lingual Dasavatharam and in a freewheeling chat, the actor par excellence unwinds, as usual, with gentle and articulate replies and huge dollops of smiles.

Excerpts from an interview:

At the music release of your film, Amitabh Bachchan and Jackie Chan raved about Dasavatharam and your skills, and you too reciprocated the compliments.

I was only voicing my sincere thoughts. I look up to Amitji and that’s why I wanted him to be here.  His work inspires me. My all-time icon in India was the late Sivaji Ganesan and after him I needed to look for another lion. As for Jackie Chan, I never knew him before today. He was called by my producer Oscar Ravichandran who has distributed many of his films in India. For an international star, he is such a simple soul. Today I have a new friend in that simple soul, not in a famous star. Though like I told him, he has been responsible for my having suffered 32 fractures— I was trying to imitate his stunts! 

Amitabh Bachchan deliberately recited your name thrice like some mantra as the public was cheering at every mention of your name. How much does all this mean to you?

Obviously this is what fuels all my passion for work. For a creative person, two factors act as fuel— the other being constructive criticism.

Your fans have been wanting to see Rajnikanth and you together, and it's never happened but for his cameo in your Hindi film Geraftaar.

Yes, it seems that we only keep talking about it.

Who are your other icons?

From Hollywood my favourites are Marlon Brando and Peter Sellers. From India, I am also a huge fan of Yusuf saab (Dilip Kumar). Sanjeev Kumar was another favourite. We worked together in Yaadgar and it was a great experience. We had another great common interest— food!

Coming to Dasavatharam, which classically means the ten mythological avatars of Lord Vishnu, how did that lead to your  story that traverses not just countries but also centuries?

 Actually, my inspiration was Sivaji Ganesan’s Navratri with his nine roles that were later enacted by Sanjeev Kumar in the Hindi (Naya Din Nayi Raat). I believe that the best of ideas come in a flash, as did this one. The idea is simple, but the execution never is. Frankly our first schedule in USA was about the feasibility of making the film at all. Without Michael Westmore’s presence for the make-up— I had worked earlier in Indian and Avvai Shanmukhi/Chachi 420— I would not have even written the script. The total period of working on my make-up was 500 hours! But when you see the film you will realise that it all hangs together.

What are the Mumbai hotties Mallika Sherawat and Himesh Reshammiya doing in your film?

Mallika is there for obvious reasons— the same as in most films of hers. As for Himesh, he was the choice of the producer and I knew how big he was in Mumbai. I have worked with Ilayaraja and a bit with Rahman and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and was wondering how Himesh could adapt to the ethos. But right from the first song situation he surprised me and kept surprising me. The proof of the pudding is in the eating and you will know that when you hear the album!

Will you work with him again?

Hasn’t he said that Dasavatharam will be his last film with a hero other than himself?

You always take a lot of help from foreign technicians.

Why not? Knowledge should be acquired from anywhere in the world. Haven’t we taken the best in medicine and education from the West? The West has also taken a lot from us. We have been an international country now for 2000 years!

Would you like to do a film in Hollywood? And also get an Oscar?

I seriously believe that as Indians we should stop hankering for recognition or endorsement from the West in the form of an Oscar win.

What can we expect next from you?

I am doing Marmayogi, a period film. I am making it in Hindi and Tamil.

That's been a norm with you— bi-linguals  or tri-linguals with Hindi. What do you think about Hindi films today?

The standards of Hindi cinema have risen very highly in the last few years, especially in the matter of acting and technology. I keep telling our industry here that Hindi films are really beginning to give South Indian cinema a run for our money. I watch a lot of Hindi films, though I have yet to catch up with some recent films like Chak De! India.

What’s happening to Marudanayagam?

Hopefully I will take it up again after Marmayogi.

How do you look at your daughter Shruti’s debut as actor?

Well, I am obviously happy and I hope that she realises her dreams and success courts her career too.

Finally, you love doing characters that are make-up centric. When do we see you looking your real-life self on screen?

My Marmayogi is like that. I assure you that this beard that I sport in the film is all mine!