Due to my other pursuits, I couldn't take up singing seriously. I learnt classical singing but not to the level he wanted. My father wanted me to become a singer, a classical vocalist. I've sung about 50 songs for my films and majority of them are in Tamil. Singing is an abiding passion for you, isn't it? Filmmaking is not an isolated endeavour it's like fighting a war. It's always difficult, whether on my own or on others' terms. Is it becoming difficult for you to make films on your own terms? Luckily, portions where I'm supposed to look younger have all been shot so that my growing older in person would become a part of the narrative. Now, I can get most of the finance in India, but only if my next few films do well. But Maridunayagam remains one of my dreams. When it comes to my films, the forthcoming film has to be better than the earlier ones. When I did Hey Ram on my own, it cost as much as Shankar's Hindustani, although it was a bi-lingual. But as long as I live to tell the story, I guess I'm going to do so.Īll the films I do for external productions are within the budget. I agree that the Tamil industry is quite stagnant.
I'm still trying to execute those dreams that I had at 19. What changes do you notice in the film industry?
You've been around for 30-odd years as a leading man. I'm one of the few filmmakers in Chennai who takes every Sunday off. I took one entire year (1990) off thinking I could afford it. Although it may seem so, I'm not a workaholic. I should've planned my dream Maridunayagam more carefully. I have suddenly realised how much time I've wasted. Why have you been maintaining such a low profile? Kamal Hassan talks about making films on his own terms