Happy birthday to Kamal Hassan.

Happy birthday to Kamal Hassan.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to versatile actor Kamal Hassan on 7th November, 2009. He had been a versatile figure both in bollywood films and South Indian cinema.

In the early 80s, his film Ek Duje Ke Liye stormed bollywood. It was a teenage love story where Kamal Hassan and Rati Agnihotri reached their performance to huge number of Indians. Kamal Hassan also showed his exceptional dancing skills in songs like “hum bane tum bane ek duje ke liye”. He followed it up with his brilliant performance in the film Saagar.

In Saagar, Ramesh Sippy experimented with a triangular love story with Kamal Hassan, Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia. The songs of the film composed by RD Burman became super hit. Some of them included “o maria”, “chehera ho”, “saagar kinare”, “jane do na”, etc. Kamal Hassan brought tears in the eyes of his audience through his sacrificing performance as died at the end of the film to save Rishi Kapoor.

From that time onwards he acted in different types of films, both having commercial significance and also art value. He acted in the film Geraftaar opposite Big B and Rajnikant. The viewers remember his comedy film Chachi 420.

Kamal Hassan used all the legendary actors of bollywood in the film Chachi 420 as a director and emerged victorious. Om Puri, Paresh Rawal, Amrish Puri, Tabu were balanced by the brilliant performance of Kamal Hassan himself who played the role of lady Chachi. He took a brilliant make up and created a hilarious script and Om Puri, Amrish Puri, did their best to make the film super hit.

In 2009 also Kamal Hassan came up with ten roles in the film Dasaavatharam. He had acted opposite Asin, Mallika Sherawat and others. He played ten different characters and all the roles were played with different dimensions. Besides he had played many daunting characters in Tamil films and bollywood films like the one in the film Hindustani.

The viewers expect him to show the dynamism in future too as they still know that Kamal Hassan still has a lot of acting left in him.

Happy birthday to Dimple Kapadia.

Happy birthday to Dimple Kapadia.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Dimple Kapadia on 8th June, 2009. She had been considered as one of the most dynamic actresses of bollywood films after Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil.

She started her career with a bold, sizzling demeanor in Raj Kapoor’s Bobby in 1973 opposite Rishi Kapoor. Raj Kapoor introduced the concept of teenage romance in the 70s and his effort got justice due to brilliant performance of both Dimple and Rishi Kapoor. Dimple’s smart, dashing lips in the songs “hum tum ek kamre me bandh ho”, “jhoot bole kowa kate”, “mujhe kuch kehna hai” sung by Lata and composed by LP just flabbergasted the audience of the 70s. Viewers thought both Dimple and Rishi Kapoor were made for each other.

But after Rajesh Khanna married Dimple Kapadia, he stopped her acting, and bollywood films lost one of the most promising actresses for 13 years. Again she made a classic comeback in Ramesh Sippy’s Saagar. The film showed a triangular love story with Kamal Hassan and Rishi Kapoor. The brilliant locations, powerful music composed by RD Burman, all contributed for the success of the super hit film. Rishi Kapoor was always considered to be the most romantic actors produced by Indian films. He proved it again in Saagar. Dimple balanced the sacrificing performance of Kamal Hassan who died at the end of the film to save Rishi Kapoor and allow Dimple marry her. All the three performers were brilliant in the lips given in the songs “o maria”, “saagar kinare”, “yeh to bata tera naam kya”, etc., sung by Lata, Bal Subhramanium, Kishore Kumar, etc.

In the mid -80s, Dimple acted in most of the successful commercial films opposite leading stars like Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Sunny Deol, etc. She was brilliant in Feroz Khan’s Jaanbaaz. In fact her smart performance balanced the cowboy image of Anil Kapoor in the film. She was sublime opposite Jackie Shroff in the film Kaash.

In the late 80s, producers and directors experimented with her in challenging roles. She was exceptional in Gulzar’s film Lekin. Lata’s songs “yara silli silli”, Suresh Watkar’s “surmai sham” composed by Hridaynath Mangeshkar were landmarks of classical music in Indian films. Dimple Kapadia portrayed the character of rajasthani folk community who were used for crying in funerals in the film Rudaali. She played the role of her lifetime and got national and international awards. Her lips in Lata’s song “dil hum hum kare” composed by Bhupen Hazarika, still haunts the listeners 20 years after its creation.

Her other successful films include Ram Lakhan, opposite Jackie Shroff, Krantiveer and Prahar opposite Nana Patekar. Her performance in the off-beat films gave her a special place just like Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil. Even in her middle-age she amazed viewers with brilliant performance in the film Dil Chahta Hai opposite Akshay Khanna who was at least 15 years younger than her. She again amazed the viewers in character roles opposite Rishi Kapoor in the films Pyar Me Twist and Farhan Akhtar’s Luck By Chance.

The viewers expect her to continue the brilliant work and go on astonishing the viewers with dynamic performances like before.

Review of Dasavatharam.

Review of Dasavatharam.

Kamal Hassan had always created anxiousness among viewers of bollywood films every time he had came up with new ventures. Because his acting went beyond dialogue throwing, his dancing, action stunts, make ups had all contributed in his films in the past.

The same thing had happened in the film Dasavatharam. Kamal Hassan had played ten different roles and in all those roles had shown his unique style of performance. Director KS Ravikiran had cast Kamal Hassan in the first story based on 12th century. R. Nambi was a staunch devotee of Lord Vishnu, and never believed in Lord Shiva. King Koluthunga insisted R. Nambi to say namashivaye which he declined to say. So he was tied to the statue of Lord Vishnu and thrown into the sea and killed. His wife Kothai (played by Asin) also killed herself.

After the death of the first avatar, the next part involved Dr. Govind Ramaswamy, a biotech American Scientist who invented a bio-warfare weapon which was extremely deadly. As his superior officer wanted to sell it to wrongdoers he destroyed it. In the process the rest of the eight characters portrayed by Kamal Hassan came into being.

They included Keith Fletcher, a former CIA Officer, George W. Bush – the former US President, Chinese Martial Art Teacher – the fighter, Balram Naidu – Telegu Police Officer, Avatar Singh – a Punjabi Pop Singer, Krishnaveni Pati – an old woman, Vincent Poovagaran – the dalit activist and Kalifullah Khan, a tall Afghan.

Previously Sanjeev Kumar had the record of playing nine different characters in the film Naya Din Nayi Raat which he did efficiently. Kamal Hassan’s effort in the film matches the performance of the legend actor. It had been shown that Govind escaped with the bio-weapon to India and had been followed by Fletcher and his tamil-interpreter wife Mallika Sherawat. The rest of the characters Martial Art Teacher – the fighter, Balram Naidu – Telegu Police Officer, Avatar Singh – a Punjabi Pop Singer, Krishnaveni Pati – an old woman, Vincent Poovagaran – the dalit activist and Kalifullah Khan, a tall Afghan, etc., just followed them.

The performance of Asin and Mallika Sherawat was brilliant. The music of Himesh Reshamiya had nothing new. The camera work requires special mention in respect of the sequence related to tsunami. The film has all the elements of entertainment and will be a blockbuster.

Happy birthday to Kamal Hassan.

Happy birthday to Kamal Hassan.

Kamal Hassan had his birthday on 7th November. All the readers of Station Hollywood and the associated people wish him happy birthday. He had been one of the most gifted actors of South Indian films who had impressed bollywood viewers during the 80s.

In the early 80s, his film Ek Duje Ke Liye stormed bollywood with the innovative story and powerful music. He entered into an affair with a hindi speaking girl whose language he could not understand at the beginning. The parents of both the family were against the marriage of Kamal Hassan with Rati Agnihotri. So they committed suicide and died together. The music of LP with Lata’s song “hum bane tum bane” stormed bollywood in the early 80s and film became superhit inspite of negative ending.


Kamal Hassan did even a greater job in the film Sagar with Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia. He sacrificed his weakness towards Dimple Kapadia as she was attached with Rishi Kapoor who was also his friend. He died at the end of the film to save Rishi Kapoor. In a film full of power-filled performances, his part superseded the romantic performance of Rishi Kapoor. Dimple Kapadia later became an indispensable figure in parallel films like Rudaali.

With hit films one after the other like Greftaar Kamal Hassan created a steady box-office in bollywood films. His own production in Chachi 420, not only showed his acting capability but more than that he had shown his choice of casting in the film which had almost all the stalwarts of bollywood films like Om Puri, Paresh Rawal, Amrish Puri, Tabu, to name a few. The comedy displayed in the film was of very high standard and the script in the film had intellectual dimension. Johnny Walker at his old age was given a very impressive role.

Kamal Hassan was even excellent in films like Nayakan, and other South Indian films, where the language was also under his command. Even considering the success of Kamal Hassan in films like Sadma (opposite Sri Devi), it is sometimes felt that the bollywood directors did not utilize the talent of Kamal Hassan to the fullest extent.


Not only that he was exceptional in understanding the characters he played he was an exceptional dancer and amazed the viewers in action sequences too. May be that he had appeared in films too late, not at the time when Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalini and other renowned directors made classic films like Akrosh, Bhumika, etc.

The viewers of Indian films expect Kamal Hassan to contribute more in bollywood films in character roles where he can show his range and capability. He had been an institution by himself and is an inspiration for the new generation of actors.