Camaraderie of film industry reflected in kamal 60 tribute

It was a star-studded evening at a city stadium as the entire Tamil cinema industry had gathered to pay the tributes, to the legendary Kamal Haasan on completing 60 years in films. Fans thronged the venue as early as two in the afternoon even as the event was scheduled to start only at five. Vijay Sethupathi was one among the firsts to arrive at the venue to a rousing reception from the crowd. AR Rahman, Karthi Sivakumar, Sarathkumar, Parthiban, Radha, Ambika, Jayam Ravi, Vadivelu, Tamannaah, Vikram Prabhu, Manisha Koirala and director Shankar took settled down after greeting the hero of the evening.

The gala event started off with Kamal Haasan thanking 60 people who paved the way for his success, which included, Sivaji Ganesan, MG Ramachandran, Rajinikanth, Mani Ratnam and AV Meiyappan, among others. As Ilayaraja kickstarted the event in a traditional way by singing Janani Janani, Kamal enjoyed the performance thoroughly from his seat. The composer called him on stage and said how could he sit peacefully and watch him perform as it was Kamal Haasan’s evening. 

The biggest moment of the evening was when AR Rahman and Ilayaraja shared the stage with Kamal Haasan. With a huge smile, Kamal went on to the stage and sang Paneer Pushpangale, which marked his first collaboration with the composer. However, the stadium erupted with applause when Kamal crooned Thenpaandi Seemayile from Nayagan. The event ended within a couple of hours and paved way for Ulaganayagan’s colleagues Nasser, Pasupathi and Sathyaraj among others to share a few anecdotes about him.

Kamal, who is a director’s delight once again obliged his directors Mani Ratnam, Shankar, KS Ravikumar by enacting a scene from their films Nayagan, Indian and Dasavatharam respectively. Before his dear friend and actor Rajinikanth could join him on stage, Kamal’s daughters Shruti and Akshara Haasan performed followed by Pooja Kumar. The event ended with the doyens of K’town Kamal and Rajinikanth reminiscing on their 43-year old friendship.

The highlight of the evening was AR Rahman and Ilayaraja sharing the stage with Kamal Haasan. The double Oscar-winning composer paid his tribute to them and left the event early.

Vijay Sethupathi revealed that he was supposed to share the screen space with Kamal Haasan in Indian 2 but missed the opportunity due to date clash. “I request Kamal sir to give me another opportunity to work with him. There were a lot of things I learnt when I worked with Rajini sir in Petta. Likewise, I would want to work with you and learn several nuances of cinema,” the actor said.

Vadivel made an official announcement that he was a part of Kamal Haasan’s upcoming film Thalaivan Irukkiran and shared his memories with the actor from Thevar Magan days. “There was a scene in the film in which Sivaji sir dies and we had to cry. Sivaji ayya had to lie down still and I had to cry sitting beside him. I started to cry aloud, and an annoyed Sivaji sir got up and said, ‘Is Kamal playing my son in the film or is it you who play my son. Tuck your veshti in your mouth and mourn quietly’,” the comedian said as everybody seated in the stadium erupted in laughter.

Actors Ajith and Vijay were trolled by netizens as both actors skipped the event. Netizens said that it was not fair on their part and they had disrespected  the actor. Sources say that Vijay couldn’t attend the event as he was held up at the shoot of Vijay 64 in Delhi and Ajith couldn’t make it due to personal reasons.