Shankar answers the most asked question: ‘What’s the age of Kamal Haasan’s Indian?’
Shankar answers the most asked question: ‘What’s the age of Kamal Haasan’s Indian?’
In Indian (1996), Kamal Haasan played the role of an ageing vigilante who fights against corruption by killing bureaucrats using his indigenous martial art techniques. At one point in the film, his age is hinted to be around 75. The first part was released in 1996, and that makes his character 103 years old in 2024, which is biologically a bit old for fights and martial arts. However, director Shankar doesn't want us to look at him as a normal person, but as a superhero.
In an interview with Film Companion, Shankar and Kamal Haasan were asked about the age of Indian Thatha aka Senapathy, and Kamal Haasan was quick to respond, "He is only as old as Superman." Shankar continued, "Yes, I am seeing him as a superhero. This is one question I am getting asked all the time. See, when I made the first part, I wasn't even aware that I would be making a sequel to it. I wanted to be true to that film, and as I was showing him as a freedom fighter, I had to reveal his birth year. So, during the investigation in the film, it is revealed he was born in 1918 or something, I don't even remember."
He added, "I am seeing him as a martial artist master. In China, there are many martial arts masters, and one master name is Lu Zijian, who is 108 years old. He is still active, flying, and kicking. It is because of their discipline and the way practiced the art. Senapathy is also a martial arts master. He is the master of Varma. So, I see him as a superhero." So, according to the director, the bottom line is that the rules that apply to normal humans do not apply to Senapathy.
The trailer of Indian 2 was released recently and it featured Kamal Haasan in several looks, which is one of the selling points of the film. Kamal has been one of the trendsetters in prosthetics makeup in Tamil cinema. Apart from Indian, he has tried out the same for Avvai Shanmugi, Dasavathara, and Anbe Sivam.
When asked if he wasn't bored of donning prosthetics again for this film as he has done it all before, Kamal Haasan said, "It would have happened if the film was not exciting and the director was not demanding enough. That wasn't the case here. I had promised myself that no more prosthetics. I could never do that again. But only a good film can make me go through that again."
Also starring Siddharth, Rakul Preet Singh, Kaja Aggarwal, Bobby Simha, and Vivekh, Indian 2 will be released in theatres on July 12.
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