Kamal Haasan

Kamal Haasan is an actor, filmmaker and producer who has worked primarily in Tamil cinema for over six decades and is widely regarded as one of the finest actors in world cinema. A cinematic auteur, he has been recognized as a key influence for numerous actors and filmmakers in the Indian film industry, and is also known for introducing many new technologies and cosmetics to Indian cinema. A recipient of numerous accolades, he has won Four National Film Awards, Nine Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, Four Nandi Awards, One Rashtrapati Award, Two Filmfare Awards and 17 Filmfare Awards South. He was awarded the Kalaimamani Award in 1984, the Padma Shri in 1990, the Padma Bhushan in 2014 and the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Chevalier) in 2016. Haasan is also known for having starred in the most number of films submitted by India in contention for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In addition to his extensive work in Tamil, he has appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali films. He has also featured in films as a screenwriter, songwriter, playback singer, choreographer, and lyricist. His film production company, Rajkamal International, has produced several of his films. After beginning as a child actor, Haasan's breakthrough came with his role in the 1975 drama Apoorva Raagangal, in which he played a rebellious youth in love with an older woman. He secured his second Indian National Film Award for his portrayal of a guileless school teacher who tends a child-like amnesiac in 1982's Moondram Pirai, and was later noted for his performance in Mani Ratnam's Nayagan (1987), which was ranked in TIME magazine's All-Time 100 Movies list. Since then, he has gone on to appear in numerous other notable films, such as his own productions, Hey Ram (2000) and Virumaandi (2004), as well as the Dasavathaaram (2008), in which he became the first actor in history to appear in ten distinct roles in the same film.