Kamal Haasan on ‘Utthama Villain’ and Rajnikanth’s ‘Lingaa’ Refund

Kamal Haasan talks about his upcoming film ‘Uttama Villain’ and reacts to Rajinikanth compensating distributors for ‘Lingaa’

Actor Kamal Haasan recently lashed out against the Central Board of Film Certification on its new set of rules to be followed in film censoring. At a press meet in Chennai, he said, “The certification board in India has become a censor board reminiscent of the British era when each word needed to be approved and stamped before being made into a film. It’s a move that infringes on my freedom of expression and creative right as an artiste. This needs to be strongly condemned.”

The actor was meeting the media as part of promotions for his upcoming film Utthama Villain in which he plays the role of an ageing superstar. “The movie is about the ups and downs in the life of a proud actor. It has an element of comedy and is completely devoid of violence,” he said.

The star also shared that the film was special as it was the last time he could share screen space with veteran filmmaker and his mentor K Balachandar, who passed away recently. “When I approached him for a role, he said I might have to stop the film midway—he probably anticipated what was to come. I said if necessary, I’d change the script accordingly. But we finished the shoot and the dubbing. He has played a role very similar to his real self,” Kamal recollected.

Sharing his views on the recent Lingaa controversy, Haasan said Rajinikanth and producer Rockline Venkatesh’s move to compensate the distributors was a bad precedent and might encourage others in the trade to claim refunds. “I don’t think it’s justified. It’s a business, you cannot claim back your money,” he said.

The actor confirmed that talks were on to revive his magnum opus Marudhanayagam, which was shelved earlier due to lack of funds. Some of my friends have approached me to restart Marudhanaayagam. I keep reminding them it’s not just a Tamil film, it’s an international film with lots of English and French parts in it. We need to keep that in mind while embarking on a project of this scale,” Haasan explained.

You can watch the trailer of Kamal Haasan’s Utthama Villain here: