Kamal Haasan is an actor par excellence and there is no debate about that. He is often referred to as a walking school of acting and he is one performer who has perhaps played all kinds of roles. From playing a dwarf in Apoorva Sagodharargal and an old man in his 80s in Indian to even 10 distinct roles in Dasavatharam including former US president George Bush, there is hardly any role Haasan cannot nail. However, one iconic film he did in the early 80s that people still cannot get over is Moondram Pirai, a tragic love story that can cause even the most strong-minded person to well up. Kamal Haasan celebrates his 68th birthday today November 7 and on that occasion, let us talk about this iconic film of his.
The 1982 Tamil film Moondram Pirai, which starred Haasan opposite Sridevi, was directed by Balanathan Benjamin Mahendra, also known as Balu Mahendra. This was a very unconventional love story as it depicted the platonic love between a simple common man played by Haasan and Sridevi, who after a car accident, mentally regresses to that of a child. They meet under unprecedented circumstances and Haasan, realising she is a child trapped in an adult’s body with no one to look after, takes the responsibility of looking after her.
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A strong bond develops between them which is more platonic than romantic but things get tragic once Sridevi’s character suddenly recovers and gets back to her original adult state of mind. Unfortunately, she does not remember anything from her ‘childlike state’ phase and has forgotten Haasan as well. The climax of the scene where she is being taken away on a train by her family while Haasan desperately tries to make her remember who he is in vain, through the train window has gone down as one of the most tragic scenes in Indian cinematic history as well as one of the best performances ever in an Indian film. The climax has made people shed tears over the decades and still does.
The film won two National Film Awards: Best Actor for Haasan, and Best Cinematography for Mahendra. It also won the Best Director – Tamil award for Mahendra at the Filmfare Awards South, and five Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.
Moondram Pirai was remade a year later in Hindi as Sadma with the same cast and crew and just like the Tamil version, has attained cult status over the years. Songs like Surmyai Ankhiyon mai and Ae Zindagi Gale Laga Le are still popular all over India after 40 years.
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