I’ve Always Been a Political Animal: Kamal Haasan

The actor-filmmaker opens up on ‘Bigg Boss Tamil’ controversies and a possible political career.

Kamal Haasan

(Photo courtesy: Facebook/ raajkamalfilms)

After the potshot taken at the physically disabled, Bigg Boss in Tamil has toned down its sarcasm about the vulnerable.

I told them very sternly that they can’t mock vulnerable sections of our society, and the disabled are certainly among the most vulnerable. I threatened to quit the show if they persisted. Now they’ve listened.

Kamal Haasan, Host, Bigg Boss Tamil

Surprisingly, all of Kamal Haasan’s speeches opinions and counter-opinions on Bigg Boss are unrehearsed: “I speak entirely extempore. Not a word is rehearsed. That’s the political animal within me.”

The actor-activist came out strongly this week against corruption in politics asking why the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister EP Palaniswami has not been asked to step down.

Explains Kamal Haasan, “These ultimatums were given by many political observers a long time ago, including me. This is yet another civil call, on behalf of the larger populace who are looking forward to it. The rules by which the political system called democracy is played does not allow for a quicker closure. So this farce I presume will continue for a little more time to the chagrin of the unwitting voters. We did not vote for this leadership. We have the right to ask for its removal if we feel it is not performing satisfactorily.”

Now a Tamil Nadu minister has questioned Kamal Haasan’s mental health.

Laughs the actor-filmmaker-thinker-doer, “I’ve questioned my own mental equilibrium for years. Perhaps all of us need to do that , considering the quality of leadership we’ve chosen, or rather the quality of leadership we’ve allowed to exist. It’s time for a change and I am making every effort to be part of that change.”

Interestingly Kamalji is no longer saying no to politics.

Kamal Haasan and Shah Rukh Khan in a still from Hey Ram.

When did I say no to politics? But if by joining active politics you are asking me to become a part of any particular political party then the answer is , no. That apart, I’ve been a political animal from the day I was born. I inherited the will to bring changes in the political system from my father. 17 years ago, I made a film on the assassination of my idol Mahatma Gandhi. That film Hey Ram is more relevant today than ever before. In fact it is going to revived at the India Habitat Centre in Delhi very shortly.