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TollywoodDirector Lokesh Kanagaraj and music composer Anirudh came on the show and also wished Kamal on his birthday.Digital NativeScreenshotKamal Haasan, who is hosting Bigg Boss Tamil season 4, celebrated his 66th birthday on Saturday. This week’s weekend special of the Bigg Boss Tamil and Telugu were really exciting as the show celebrated Kamal’s birthday on the episode. As a pleasant surprise, Bigg Boss Telugu host Nagarjuna connected with Kamal over a video call and wished him a happy birthday, saying: “Let’s welcome the pride of India Kamal Ji,” and wished him “Piranthanaal Vazhthukkal”. The Telugu contestants also interacted with Kamal and wished him for his birthday. Kamal greeted everyone in Telugu, “Andarki Namaskaram... Bavunnara?” Nagarjuna requested Kamal to announce the contestant who was saved from eviction this week, who turned out to be Harika. Expressing his happiness at the crossover episodes, Kamal said, “This is a phenomenal meeting.

Flix FlashbackMuch of the film is based on Pudumaipithan’s ‘Chittrannai’, with the author’s favourite themes of feminism and male chauvinism underlined in every other scene.Nandhu SundaramI was in my teens when I saw Uthiripookkal (Scattered Flowers; 1979) on TV. I was impressed by what I later realised was the neo-realism of the film. But at first viewing, the movie remained in its allure most elusive. What did director Mahendran get right that others before and since go so wrong? How was he different from Bharathiraja? Why was Uthirpookal relegated to being 16 Vayathinile’s poorer cousin? The questions came from all sides with every viewing of Mahendran’s classic. Uthiripookkal had an urgency that emanated from the director, who populated the film with characters you can’t easily root for. The engine is its main character’s villainy. Actor Vijayan’s Sundaravadivelu is the embodiment of evil itself. His...

Flix FlashbackVani Vishwanath played Susanna in this 2000 film, a woman who is in a relationship with five men. Neelima MenonDirected by TV Chandran, Susanna, which released in 2000, is the fifth film in a filmography of a director who has strictly adhered to the offbeat genre. Susanna is often talked about as a wicked spin on Mahabharata's Draupadi, though purists may take offence. Here, we look at the possible layers in the film, and analyse the story and the storytelling, its possibilities, shortcomings and more... The film begins with the long shot of a man and woman making love in the middle of a forest, with a voiceover from Susanna (Vani Vishwanath), who is now middle-aged with grey strands of hair. She is narrating her life story to a young man who, we are told a little later, is the son of one of her lovers. The man she was making...

EntertainmentNational Geographic’s ‘Mega Icons’ traces Kamal’s journey from his childhood to his plunge into politics.Tnm StaffScreengrabNational Geographic’s latest show, Mega Icons, premiered in September this year and the second personality to be featured on this show is actor turned politician Kamal Haasan. This five-part series will also feature episodes on former Indian President Apj Abdul Kalam, skipper of the Indian cricket team Virat Kohli, Nobel laureate the Dalai Lama and the first woman in the Indian Police Service officer, Kiran Bedi. The 40-minute episode on Kamal Haasan starts from his childhood days, tracing his journey as a child actor to a singer, dancer, popular film star and now to a politician. The show scientifically analyses his brain, with the help of experts from the field to understand the making of a polymath. Is it in his genes or is it his exceptional childhood that helped nurtured so many talents in him?...

Indian-American model and actor Waris Ahluwalia got detained at a Mexican airport earlier this week and the Sikh man was questioned for wearing his turban. It's now happening to Indians in Sikh turbans. Earlier if you were a Khan you got questioned/ detained/ screened/scanned on airports. Irrfan Khan has gone through the ordeal on two occasions on American airports. Speaking about it to me he said, "More than the physical torture, it's the wounds of humiliation that never heal after you undergo such a horrific experience. It happened to me on two occasions. I was detained in New York and Los Angeles airport for secondary interrogation. I was outraged. I was told to quietly come into a room for questioning and identification verification. I wasn't allowed to talk. When I tried to ask why I was being treated this way, I was told to keep quiet. I wasn't allowed to use my phone.

While Irrfan has dropped his 'Khan' to avoid cultural identification, Kamal Hassan is in a seriously defiant mood. He is thinking of changing his distinctly Muslim-sounding name to a more prounounced Islamic-sounding 'Qamal Haasan'. "Just to show a sense of solidarity with my Muslim brothers, including Shah Rukh whom I am very fond of," he says. If Irrfan thinks it's a liability to be called a Khan, Kamal thinks it's equally incriminating to be named a Haasan. "It doesn't matter whether I am really Muslim or not. If I have to suffer for my name, I'm willing to do so," says Kamal. It's not just Shah Rukh with his 'Khan' surname that gets him special treatment at the American treatment. You could get the Us immigration guys into a budge over a Hindi name simply because it sounds Muslim. This, Kamal Haasan discovered recently at an airport in Canada when...

Kamal Haasan ex wife Vani Ganapathy spoke to the media recently. She said,” Kamal Haasan and I got separated some 20 years ago. Even now people refer me as Kamal Haasan’s wife. I am not bothered about it But I don’t understand why people are calling me like that. All are asking that why I am not remarried after divorcing Kamal. Dance is everything to me.

After marriage I kept away from dance. I like to watch Kamal films than any other hero films. I saw his film Dasavatharam. I have not seen his daughter Shruthi. But I have good relations with Kamal’s family. Suhasini, Charu Haasan and Manirathnam are my close friends.”...