Inspired by Kamal, fan sketches tribute

When the film fraternity is celebrating legendary actor Kamal Haasan’s 60 years in Indian cinema, Seevaga Vazhuthi, a writer, has come up with an unusual tribute to the actor. The youngster has picked 40 of Kamal’s most-liked characters from films and done a pencil sketch. Seevaga has compiled his work and brought out an art book titled 60 Years of Kamalism.

“If you ask any 90s kid about their favourite actors in the Tamil film industry, they would either choose Rajinikanth or Kamal Haasan. Both are legendary actors, who have entertained us with their power-packed performances. Though I admire Rajini sir’s works, Kamal sir’s acting skills are something beyond words. He is an inspiration to many people and it was my long-time dream to do a tribute to sir. When I came to know that he has completed 60 years in the film industry, I decided to do an art tribute to him,” says Seevaga.

The youngster recalls that it was a tricky process to select 40 of Kamal’s film characters. “It’s not an easy thing. “Kamal sir’s characters in films like Apoorva Sagodharargal, Nayakan, Salangai Oli, 16 Vayathinile, Indian, Uttama Villain, etc, have influenced my life a lot. He entertained us for 60 years through films and if I can make him happy for just 60 seconds it would be more than enough. It took a year and a half for me to complete the book,” he tells DT Next. The ‘fanboy’ in Seevaga also did a 3D art illustration of the actor on December 8. With 3,072 cups, he created Kamal’s portrait at his house terrace. “I used six different shades of emulsion colours to make this portrait. It took almost nine hours to complete the entire picture. This form of art illustration is not popular in India. In 2014, a 3D art of Sachin Tendulkar was made from 10,000 coffee cups. But after that nobody had done it in the country. I am also planning to do 3D portraits of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, AR Rahman, and MS Dhoni. Rather than creating a canvas at home, I would like to do it in malls so that more people will get to know about it,” shares Seevaga.