Tamil star actor Kamal Haasan was recently in Mumbai to preside over the pre-release event of the upcoming Telugu-Hindi movie Kalki 2898 AD, in which he plays 'a sage-like' villain named Supreme Yaskin. During an interaction hosted by Telugu actor Rana Daggubati, the 69 year old multi-talent was asked how he agreed to be in a movie of a much younger Nag Ashwin, 'who doesn't look anything like a filmmaker'. 

"If all you know the looks of Nagi (Nag Ashwin), he doesn't look anything like a filmmaker...He's actually a lost kid from Shambala (one of the three cities that is a focal point in Kalki 2898 AD) who grew up in Hyderabad. So how did he actually narrate this (story of science fiction with mythological background) to you Sir and what was your reaction to it?", Rana Daggubati asked Kamal Haasan. 

The 'Ulaganayagan' to everyone's delight, responded, "I'm used to these kind of ordinary looking people doing extraordinary things. My boss, my mentor (K. Balachander) was one such man. He looked like a government official. First thing if he enters any house, you'd think it's an income tax raid. That's how he looked. But I've seen what he was capable of from the kind of films he did. I think Ek Duuje Ke Liye (1981) was his 60th or 70th film (Ek Duuje Ke Liye was K. Balachander's 53rd movie, and the Hindi remake of his very own 38th film Maro Charitra, which came out in 1978 in Telugu)..So I wasn't surprised (with Nag Ashwin)."

Kamal Haasan further added, "I don't underestimate these ordinary looking guys. They have a depth to them that doesn't show unless you talk to them. And I did have the opportunity of talking to him (Nag Ashwin). (He's) a man of few words..The succinct way of putting forward your idea, if it extends to movies, great ideas will translate better..It's when they dont' know how to present it, that's when great ideas become ordinary movies. But this guy (director Nag Ashwin) knew how to present an idea, which as Amit (tabh Bachchan) ji said, the first thing you ask is 'What have you been smoking or what have you been drinking'.  But that's how great ideas are formed..Ordinary people will doubt it and then start respecting it."

“I was curious to begin with, then I was surprised, and now I’m in awe.”

- Ulaganayagan @ikamalhaasan's Speech at the Pre-Release Event of #Kalki2898AD in Mumbai.@SrBachchan #Prabhas @nagashwin7 @deepikapadukone @DishPatani @Music_Santhosh @VyjayanthiFilms @Kalki2898AD… pic.twitter.com/dASfXuWS4i

— Vyjayanthi Movies (@VyjayanthiFilms) June 19, 2024

Kalki 2898 AD releases in theaters on June 27, 2024 [Thursday]. The Rs. 600 Cr. movie is Nag Ashwin's fourth as director, and is backed by his father-in-law producer C. Aswani Dutt of Vyjayanti Movies. Prabhas, Deepika Padukone, Amitabh Bachchan play lead characters in Kalki 2898 AD, which has Santhosh Narayanan for music.