Actor Kamal Haasan recalls his first association with M T Vasudevan Nair, who is celebrating his 90th birthday. According to him, he was just eighteen years old when he played the lead role in ‘Kanyakumari’ which was scripted by MT Vasudevan Nair.
“I was just a teenager then who was eagerly waiting for an opportunity to act in films. Even though I had watched lots of foreign movies, I didn’t have any idea about Malayalam films. It was a time when I hadn’t fallen in love with Malayalam cinema yet. Sethumadhavan sir was the only Malayalam filmmaker I knew of since I had acted in his film ‘Kannum Karalum’ as a child artist,” he said.
He says he got excited when Sethumadhavan approached him to play the hero in his film. 'Kanyakumari'. “When I saw the script, I noticed that I didn’t have too many dialogues. I was someone who had been training to become an actor by learning the long dialogues of legendary actors like Shivaji Ganesan. But, in Malayalam movies, people didn’t speak much. After seven days, Sethu sir said that I could leave. Worried and tensed, I asked him whether I was still the hero. He then promised me that I was the hero and said that we would soon meet at Madras. We shot at Madras for three more days. Even then, I didn’t know that MT Vasudevan sir was such a great writer,” he said.
Haasan received an offer to act in ‘Aruthu’, while filming 'Kanyakumari'. One day, he went to a theatre called Opera on MG Road in Bengaluru to watch 'Nirmalyam' along with M G Soman and Surasu. “After the show got over, both Soman and Surasu wanted to have a drink. However, I insisted on watching the next show too. Surasu was happy as he had played a minor role in ‘Nirmalyam’. I watched ‘Nirmalyam’ two more times at the same theatre,” recalls Haasan.
'Nirmalyam' opened many avenues for Haasan, who had only been aware of legendary filmmakers like Satyajith Ray and Girish Karnad till then. “I began realising the value of MT Vasudevan Nair as I kept watching ‘Nirmalyam’. Whenever I said I was a big fan of MTV, people would assume I was talking about Music Television. However, for me ‘MTV’ has always been MT Vasudevan Nair sir,” he said.
He says he has never read any of M T Vasudevan's novels and stories, but have listened to all of them. “That's because I cannot read or write the language,” he said.
“After we wrapped up the filming of ‘Kanyakumari’, Sethu sir told me that I would win accolades for my role. I won my first Filmfare award for ‘Kanyakumari’. I soon became busy with handful movies in Malayalam and Tamil. When IV Shashi’s ‘Thrishna’ got released, I confessed to him that I wanted to act in a movie penned by MT Vasudevan Nair. We then went to meet the writer at the Palm Grove hotel in Madras. When I went in, he was just relaxing and smoking a beedi. I gave him an advance and he promised to collaborate with me. That was the first time I had spoken in person to MTV sir!
However, that film didn’t happen and I am still disappointed about it,” he said.
Recently, the makers of an anthology movie based on his stories contacted Haasan since they wanted him to narrate the introduction for it. “I asked them whether I could speak to MTV sir. I believe he didn't recognise me when I told him I was calling. However, he got excited when I introduced myself as Sankaran from 'Kanyakumari',” he says, adding that M T Vasudevan Nair never cared about superstardom or all the fanfare. “He can only identify the characters he had created. We spoke for a few minutes on the phone. A True Master! That is what I would call him.
I had watched ‘Kanyakumari’ in the same Opera theatre where I watched ‘Nirmalyam’. I often imagine about what would happen if the dialogues in ‘Nirmalyam’ were said now. Today, such a movie would surely be banned. It would have become the real ‘Kerala Story’. ‘Nirmalyam’ is still in my list of favourite movies. This movie has inspired me as much as other iconic movies like ‘Bicycle Thieves’ and ‘Four Hundred Blows’. It was MTV sir who proved that the writer is the real super star!,” he said.
