Kamal Hassan - Profile

Kamal Haasan was born on 7th November 1954. He is an actor, screenwriter, and filmmaker, considered to be one of the leading method actors of Indian cinema.Kamal Haasan has won several Indian film awards, including four National Film Awards and numerous Southern Filmfare Awards, and he is known for having starred in the most number of films submitted by India in contest for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He is usually referred to by the title Ulaga Nayagan (lit. Universal Hero). In addition to acting and directing, he is a screenwriter, songwriter, playback singer, and choreographer. His film production company, Rajkamal International, has produced several of his films.

After several projects as a child artist, Kamal Haasan's breakthrough into lead acting came with his role in the 1975 drama Apoorva Raagangal, in which he played a rebellious youth in love with an older woman. He secured his first Indian National Film Award for his portrayal of a guileless school teacher who tends a child-like amnesiac in 1982's Moondram Pirai. He was particularly noted for his performance in Mani Ratnam's Godfatheresque Tamil film Nayagan (1987), which was ranked by Time magazine as one of the best films of all time. Since then he has gone on to appear in other notable films such as his own productions, Hey Ram and Virumaandi, as well as the magnum opus Dasavathaaram, in which he appeared in ten distinct roles.