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Kamal Haasan (b. November 7, 1954) is a famous
India|Indian movie star working mainly in
Kollywood|the Tamil film industry. He has, in his
younger days been a mainstream star in the Hindi
film industry, otherwise known as Bollywood. He
has been awarded the Padmashri. He has been
conferred a honorary degree|honourary doctorate by
Sathyabama Deemed University,
Chennai.http://www.rediff.com/movies/2005/jan
/24spice.htm

==Early life==
expandsect

==Acting career==
expandsect

Kamal Haasan made his screen debut with the Tamil
language|Tamil movie Kalathur Kannamma at the age
of 5. 16 Vayathinile, in which he co-acted with
Rajinikanth, established him as a popular actor.
However, he got his break with K. Balachander's
Telugu hit Maro Charithra. Besides Tamil, he has
also performed in movies in the Hindi, Malayalam,
Telugu and Kannada languages. He has played a wide
range of characters including 
* a ventriloquist in Antu leni Katha (= Endless
Story)
* an under-world don in Nayagan (= Leader)
* a freedom-fighter in Indian
* a classical dancer in Saagara Sangamam (= Tryst
with the Infinite)
* a blind violinist in Raajaparvai
* a dwarf clown in Apoorva Sahodaragal
* and a mentally challenged man in Swathi Muthyam
(= Rare gem)

==Awards==
He is a three time winner of the Indian National
award for best actor, for the films Nayagan,
Moonram Pirai, and Indian. He has also received
the best actor award at the Asian Film festivals
held in 1983 and 1985 for Saagara Sangamam and
Swathi Muthyam, respectively. Seven of his movies
have been sent as List of India's official entries
to the Oscars|India's official entry to the
Oscars, more than any other person. He holds the
record  the most Film Fare awards (18). Recently
Kamal Haasan was honoured when his self directed
venture titled "Virumaandi" won the International
Asian Film of the Year 2004. In 2005, he was again
honoured when Time magazine listed "Nayagan" as
one of the Top 100 movies of all times.


==Career as a film producer==
He has also involved himself in film production.
He wrote screenplays for several of his films and
ventured into film direction with Hey Ram, a film
depicting the conflict between revolutionaries and
proponents of non-violence during the Indian
independence movement. The film is also remembered
for depicting the flashback in color and the
present day events in black and white.

Kamal Hassan renamed his recent venture Sandiyar
to Virumandi owing to a protest from a community
in Tamil Nadu. He then acted in "Vasool Raja
M.B.B.S", a remake of Vidhu Vinod Chopra's
"Munnabhai M.B.B.S". Both "Virumandi" , "Vasool
Raja" were successes. Kamal then acted in a home
production titled "Mumbai Xpress". It was a
bilingual (Hindi and Tamil) and was directed by
long time friend Singeetham Srinivasa Rao. The
film was only successful at some centres. Kamal
then signed a film directed by Gautham titled
"Vettayadu Villayadu", it has been in
preproduction for some three months and should
begin shooting in mid - July. It is a crime
thriller - a genre Kamal last attempted  in 1995
with "Kuruthipunal".
His unfinished projects include Maruda Naayagam, a
partition epic; the film is notable as it was
inaugurated by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

==Personal life==
He is a self-professed rationalist, atheist,
activist, and a follower of Periyar.  Some of his
movies, especially Anbe Sivam (It is love that is
god), have put forward his atheistic views. The
discussion between Kamal and Madhavan about
Tsunami in the movie (released in 2003) showed the
Tamil viewers Kamal's breadth of knowledge.

Kamal's production company is Rajkamal
Productions.

Kamal is the first actor to turn his fan club into
a service organization. Though born to an affluent
Iyengar family, he denied his caste identity.
Along with his daughter, Kamal has donated his
eyes and also offered his body for research after
his death, the first Indian celebrity to do so. 
He was the first Indian actor to promise that he
won't act in smoking scenes in movies.

Like many actors, his personal life has been the
subject of media gossip. In his early years, he
was much spoken about for his relationship with
Sridevi, a famous actress of that time.  He
married Vani Ganapathi, a Bharatanatyam dancer,
but they divorced almost immediately when Sarika
an Hindi actress claimed that she was pregnant
with his child.  Kamal then married Sarika. They
have two teenage daughters and their marriage
lasted until 2002, when media attention to his
relationship with the young actress
Simran_(actress)|Simran resulted in their
separation.  Soon afterwards, the media reported
that another of his co-stars, Gouthami,  living in
his house.

After Rajnikanth, widely considered the 'super
star' of Tamil films, Kamal Haasan is the biggest
Tamil film star. He is generally considered to be
the better actor among the two. Anbe Sivam is also
considered a response to Rajnikanth's Baba which
was released earlier the same year. The story of
Baba was dominated by religion and devotion where
as Anbe Sivam (Love alone is God) talked about
humanism.

Kamal's elder brother Charu Hassan is also a well
respected actor in south Indian cinema.

==External links==
* http://www.nilacharal.com/enter/celeb/kamal.html
Profile at Nilacharal
*
http://www.cinesouth.com/films/cast/persondb/Kamal
hasan.html Filmography of Kamalhasan @ Cinesouth
* imdb name|id=0352032|name=Kamal Haasan
* http://www.spicevienna.org/showPerson.php?p=298
Kamal Hassan - SPICE