Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Kamal Haasan Offbeat Casting that clicked / Lady Superstar v/s South Queen flashback

 Three casting decisions that KH ( Kamal Haasan ) made in three of his films is considered very offbeat and daring. Read about them;


Kovai Sarala in Sathi Leelavati as PALANI

The Director , Balu Mahendra was aghast when Kamal suggested Sarala as his pair.

She was a comedienne and her main male lead so far had been Goundamani and Senthil.

When Sarla didn't have dates, Kamal suggested a six month delay in the shooting schedule

Balu Mahendra was so annoyed he freely mocked at Kamals choice and asked Kamal if he had a fetish for ugly faces

Yet Kamals choice was flawless

Sarala taught Kamal the famous Kovai slang and hit the ball out of the park with her performance as PALANI

Balu Mahendra apologized to her openly while Kamal gifted her an Iconic Fluorescent Maruti Zen in addition to her fees plus a Maruti Esteem /1000 to Ramesh Aravind

Nagesh in Michael Madana Kama Rajan MMKR as AVINASI

The casting was almost fully settled and the character of Avinasi was very small in the film. Nagesh was very eager to do a STRIPART Or a female role as the iconic PAATI

It was a long ambition for Nagesh to don a woman's role and fool the audience with a fake name

Unfortunately Kamal expanded Avinasi and insisted Nagesh do the role

Nagesh refused preferring that popular comedian & writer Janagaraj who had shown comedy chops in Aboorva Sagodharargal do the role of Avinasi

Kamal persuaded Nagesh over and over again until. Nagesh finally agreed and in TWO HOURS WITH CRAZY MOHAN, expanded the entire scene of Avinasi from a 4 Minute screentime to 20 minutes

SN Lakshmi was invited to play a comic role and she relished the challenge

Avinasi was the most popular character in the film after Kameswaran played by Kamal. Avinasi drew so many laughs that popular former AP CM NT Ramarao personally invited Nagesh for lunch and relished the role

A remake was suggested with Chiranjeevi at the helm and Avinashi played by a guy called Babu Mohan but Babu Mohan humbly said “Only Relangi can play this role after Nagesh Garu” (Relangi is likely a Telugu comedian legend)

Chiranjeevi said “No” and also humbly said this film was Kamals masterpiece and a remake would be a mockery to Kamal

Nagarjuna in 1997 was interested in remaking this film but Kamal said no and that he wasn't interested in giving rights

Avinasi became Nageshs most memorable characters after Thillana Mohanambal & the famous RAMAYYA in Anbe Vaa


Abhirami in Virumaandi

Kamals choice again

He kept faith in Abhirami , a young 18–19 year old with very little previous scope

She delivered a top notch performance

(Source; Kanthaswamy Balasubramnian)


Nayanthara and Trisha’s old interviews about the friendship that they do not share is doing the rounds. The background to the both actress rift is that both were shortlisted for the heroine role in Thalapathy's Kuruvi. It went to Trisha. Nayanthara admits that they had misunderstandings and that they are not friends but mere acquaintances. Nayan says that the word Friend has a big meaning. However she says that she has no issues with Trisha or anyone else. She recollects that during Billa, Namitha would walk in to the sets and wish everyone but her. She said that she did not want to pretend that they are pals.

Trisha however denied that she had any argument with Nayanthara and felt common friends blew it up. She said that it was not a professional rivalry but a misunderstanding created by mutual friends. Trisha was the first choice for Samantha's role in Vignesh S directorial 'Kaathu Vaakula Rendu Kadhal' with Vijay Sethupathi and Nayanthara. It was Nayanthara’s production. Trisha backed out and she said that she had a good reason to do so. At that time Ponniyin Selvam had not released and post that Trisha bounced back as South Queen.

 


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