Kamal Haasan, who delivered the keynote speech on February 7th, at the annual India Conference 2016, jointly hosted by the prestigious Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School, sat down for a Q&A with an auditorium full off students, scholars and fellow speakers.
Moderated by Sushma Raman, the Executive Director of Carr Centre for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, Kamal Haasan took a variety of questions ranging from the extinction of stage plays in India, to how expletives are truly the rights of an artist. Here are some of the megastar’s most fascinating answers, that won the crowd over.
On Education and Being a High School Dropout
I have been constantly reminded about my lack of intra-mural training. I must humbly submit that I am a high school dropout. Before, with very little success on my side, I used to brag about being a dropout and yet manage to move seamlessly in a scholarly circle without being caught. That’s because I was a good actor. I knew my lines. I have always envied people like you who have pursued wisdom and skill in your chosen field, where it is taught with scientific methodology. People often confuse my voicing dreams of going back to film school as humility, that too false humility. Believe me it’s truly humility that time and experience has taught me, that too not very kindly. I have learnt little tricks in the time I spent in the film industry, a little more than half a century. What took me nearly 25 years to learn could easily have been taught to me in a proper film school in five or seven years. The only difference and a happy compensation was that I was earning through the process of learning instead of spending on my education. I guess that is a good trade off.Kamal Haasan, Actor
On Film Distributors and Exhibitors Forming a Cartel and Restricting Cinema from Transcending Into Various Mediums
You see, in a world of open source, protectionism cannot work like medieval times. It’s not how business is going to work. You will have to use every opportunity now. It’s so subcutaneous now that you will not even see money passing hands. They don’t realise all that. They are protecting vested interests in archaic machines and tools, without accepting the fact that they will be outdated very soon. It’s all impeding the rise of the business. Sad! But, you can’t have a private tutorial for these guys and tell them. I try. I’m not a good teacher.Kamal Haasan
On Why India Has Not Been Able to Win Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film Category?
I’m glad that this question is asked of me in America. We are as far away from the Oscars, as we are from acting in American films. Oscars is an American standard. It’s not an Indian standard. So, when we act and compete on a level playing ground, that’s when we should aspire for the Oscars. Oscars is a fantastic standard. But, it cannot be the world standard.Kamal Haasan
On Staying Away From Politics
There was a time when all of India was in politics. I think it was during the Quit India Movement. Everybody was a politician. Everybody was at it. It might happen again. But, I only hope this time there are no guns and bullets. So, when I come into politics, active politics, I might carry one. I don’t want that. And, that’s why I don’t come into politics. I’m better off expressing vociferously from the place that I am in. We don’t need dictators. We don’t need soldiers. We don’t need a war. We have won freedom in a unique way and we keep in it a unique way too, when everybody is jumping into the fray. I think in the future, we’ll have CEOs running the country. Not leaders. I think we are not sheep anymore. We don’t need to be shepherded.Kamal Haasan
On the Responsibility that Comes Along With the Freedom of Speech. Does it End at Not Being Wilfully Offensive?
Not being wilfully offensive is a pertinent choice. My way was that. I have chosen to be that. It could be anyway. Malcolm X had his own way. Lenny Bruce, who was another kind of performer in the public arena, had his way. I think even expletives are the rights of an artist. That’s what we are trying to recommend to the certification board. I mean truly, I believe expletives are a matter of expression and they should not be curbed in cinema. Because you are able to define a character in cinema within seconds - the way he speaks, where he comes from. That’s when expletives and gentle speak are juxtaposed in shaping a character.Kamal Haasan
On Drama and Stage Plays Being Relatively Inaccessible to the Common Man Now, as Compared to the Time When They Were Important Forms of Expression
We have been irresponsible. You have been irresponsible. I have been irresponsible. We have a duty to preserve it, to love and to keep it. But, we neglected it and threw it away like plastic bottles and walked away. We did not preserve it. We saw television, so we relate with it. Theatrical plays too – that’s our mistake, our bad. But, it can be rectified. We are actually trying to address it. We have a great tradition, but we are losing it by making it boring. Classical arts are ‘boring’ now because we are doing nothing about it. Grabbing the attention of the audiences has become more important now. I don’t think that’s the virtue of classical, or any art form for that matter.Kamal Haasan
The superstar also tweeted a few words of appreciation for the intelligent questions that he was asked by the students at the India Conference 2016.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)
0
Read Latest News and Breaking News at The Quint, browse for more from entertainment
Published: