Shah Rukh a connoisseur, worked in ‘Hey Ram’ for free: Kamal Haasan

Shah Rukh Khan is “a connoisseur of art and a good actor”, said veteran actor Kamal Haasan, while acknowledging that the superstar didn’t charge a single penny for his 2000 bilingual film Hey Ram.

Hey Ram is a period drama written, directed, and produced by Kamal, which also starred him and Shah Rukh in the lead.

In the Tamil-Hindi movie, Kamal and Shah Rukh played friends Saket Ram and Amjad Ali Khan respectively.

At the trailer launch of his upcoming movie Hindustani 2, the multi-hyphenate said titles like ‘star’ or ‘superstar’ don’t matter while working in a film.

“When we work together, we are all just people. I don’t see a superstar. He doesn’t see a super director. We are friends. Shah Rukh sahib made that film for free… That cannot be done by a superstar. That can be done only by a fan. A connoisseur of art and a good actor. I’m ever thankful to him. Later on, you give us those titles and we very shyly accept them,” Kamal told reporters here on Tuesday night.

The 69-year-old also spoke about how he wanted screen icon Dilip Kumar to star in the Hindi remake of the 1992 Tamil film Thevar Magan.

Directed by Bharathan, Thevar Magan was written and produced by Haasan. It starred Sivaji Ganesan and Kamal as a father-son duo.

Unfortunately, Dilip Kumar had decided to retire from cinema by the time he reached out to him.

“I wanted to do it only with Yusuf sahib (Dilip Kumar’s real name). When he said he is not going to do any more films, I sold the rights to somebody because I didn’t want to and I couldn’t think of anybody else. And so that was a dream that didn’t come through,” recalled Kamal.

Eventually, Amrish Puri played the father to Anil Kapoor in Virasat, the 1997 Hindi remake of Thevar Magan.

Kamal said he used to come to Mumbai to wish the late star on his birthday on December 11.

“I’m a great fan and a student of Yusuf saab. I don’t know how many people know because it was a secret fact. I used to come here whenever I could on December 11 on his birthday and kneel before him to kiss his hand,” he added.

Hindustani 2: Zero Tolerance is a sequel to Kamal’s hit 1996 film Indian, which featured him in a dual role and also starred Manisha Koirala, Urmila Matondkar and Kasthuri Shankar.

The movie was directed by S. Shankar, who is returning for the sequel, slated to be released on July 12.

Besides Kamal, the sequel stars Kajal Aggarwal, Siddharth, and Rakul Preet Singh in key roles. It is produced by Subaskaran Allirajah’s Lyca Productions and Udhayanidhi Stalin’s Red Giant Movies.