June 17, 2008

Ten Avatars by me… How do you feel?
Director KS Ravi Kumar said that though he acted as the director, everything was done by Kamal himself. “He is the master actor, director, poet and visionary.” Jointly addressing a media meet with Kamal Hassan at a star hotel in Hyderabad, on Tuesday night, he said: “I got a phone call while I was doing an Ajith’s starrer in Ramoji Film City. Kamal asked me: Ten Avatars. How do you feel? I immediately said: Wonderful. But you alone should do them. That time I was not the director for that. Even producer was not Ravichandran. It was in the later years, the producer and director changed for want of patience and money. Thus, the project landed up with us (me and Ravi).”

After sleepless nights, what next?
“I spent many a sleepless nights. Throughout the day, I would be shooting. When the night comes, tension would grip me. My mind would be full with the thoughts for the next day shoot. The execution of 10 Avatas is not a joke. It was Kamal Hassan who guided me everyday. Be it, makeup, laugh, smile, anger, stunts, dialogues, screenplay and direction. He perfectly brought to play ten different mindsets and body languages. He proved it Dasavataram is Kamal; and Kamal, Dasavataram. He is one such person who moves freely with all. Kamal worked even in Hollywood. He knows everything better than me.”

Three Makeup men in America
“The ten getups come in the very first fifteen minutes of the film. But, the audiences hardly recognize each other. Till the end, most of them are not traced out to the real Kamal Hassan. We used three makeup men in America, excluding the main makeup professional for Kamal.”