New Delhi: Just hours after DMK president Karunanidhi passed away, actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan said that the veteran leader’s political moves were a lesson for him to base his own career. “His mistakes are my lessons and so are his achievements. I knew him as a writer before I knew him as a politician,” Haasan said, speaking at the News18 Baithak event on Tuesday. “He was a sort of a vicarious teacher for me, for most Tamil actors. He was like a gatepass for us actors who wanted to show their prowess and their pronunciation. The language we used was Karunanidhi’s, the voice imitated came from Sivaji Ganesan, and our vocabulary came from Kannadasan. So these were the three Tamil teachers who taught many Tamilian actors Tamil and the topmost among them all is no more with us,” Haasan said. Apart from that, he added, politics was something that he had just walked into. “Karunanidhi, on the other hand, has had a long, illustrious career. He has permeated Tamil Nadu politics for nearly 70 years and more. He came in when he was 19. Many generations know him for various reasons. I, for one, have seen him before he was a leader. I was a boy, I didn’t understand what the movement was all about and we became part of that movement. These are men of the hour and it wasn’t accidental. It was a call by the Tamilians for a leader and he did his bit. We salute him,” Haasan added. On the lessons from the DMK chief’s life, Haasan looked back at the start of the DMK party. “The odds which they faced in the background of a hegemony like Congress was something. The party rose with just one tool — cinema and they used it to the fullest. They were probably the first political party to use it so prominently. America and Germany tried to do it, but it was only this regional party that managed to it,” he added.<doc-sep>Kamal Haasan was in Delhi to promote his upcoming film Vishwaroopam 2 when the news of Kalaignar Karunanidhi’s death broke and left people of Tamil Nadu in deep shock. The actor cut short his schedule and rushed back to Chennai to pay his respects to the late DMK leader who passed away on Tuesday at 6.10 pm. Before he left Delhi, however, the actor spoke fondly of Karunanidhi and said, “I knew Karunanidhi ji as a writer before I knew him as a politician.” He also said, “The language we actors used is that of Karunanidhi’s. He had an incredible flow in his writing, which was very elegant. There was a call by the Tamilians for a leader, and he was the one who filled that role.” When Tamil Nadu government refused to let Karunanidhi be laid to rest at Marina alongside his mentor CN Annadurai, Kamal was one of the many who opposed the decision, adding that he deserved to rest besides his mentor. Karunanidhi’s remains are currently at Chennai’s Rajaji Hall for actors and other dignitaries to pay their last respects to the departed soul. Cinema halls across the city shut shop as a mark of respect to the script writer-turned politician even as the Tamil film industry mourns the loss of one of its celebrated writers. Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10<doc-sep>Kamal Haasan joins Marina for Kalaignar chorus, says ‘it’s only honourable’ On Tuesday, Rajinikanth, too, had supported a Marina burial for Karunanidhi. news Karunanidhi The mortal remains of late DMK supremo M Karunanidhi is kept at Rajaji Hall in Chennai, and leaders and supporters have been pouring in to pay their last respects. The supporters gathered at the hall are raising slogans of ‘We want Marina’ as dignitaries troop in – and adding his voice to the call is actor-politician Kamal Haasan. In a statement, Kamal said, “When Anna was alive, the two who grew to guard the party were Kalaignar and MGR. It is only honourable that all three be revered in the same place. It is sad that the young ones who joined the party after MGR don't honour this. Had MGR been alive and Kalaignar had passed away, he would have ensured that Anna's thambi was near him. On Tuesday evening, Rajinikanth also supported DMK’s demand, saying that a Marina burial would be the highest respect the state would be paying him. Taking to Twitter, he said, "Tamil Nadu Government must take all measures, for last rites of Karunanidhi to be performed near Anna memorial. This would be the highest respect we would be paying to him. This is my humble request." Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that like Jayalalitha, Kalaignar too deserved to be buried at the Marina. “Like Jayalalithaa ji, Kalaignar was an expression of the voice of the Tamil people. That voice deserves to be given space on Marina Beach. I am sure the current leaders of Tamil Nadu will be magnanimous in this time of grief,” he tweeted. Former Union Minister Farooq Abdullah also batted for DMK. “A great leader has passed away, he did not only represent Tamil Nadu but India as a whole. He fought for federalism and for Tamil people. The people of Tamil Nadu will never forgive State Govt if it denies burial land which is requested by DMK,” Abdullah said. https://twitter.com/ANI/ status/1026869773987016704 On Tuesday, DMK working president M K Stalin had written to Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, requesting a space alongside Karunanidhi’s mentor and former Chief Minister CN Annadurai, at Anna Square in Marina. However, the government gave out a statement saying that it was unable to allot space at the beach owing to several pending cases in the Madras High Court as well as legal complications. Following this, DMK lawyers, headed by Saravanan Annadurai, moved the Madras High Court and sought permission to move an emergency hearing at Acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court Huluvadi G Ramesh's residence on Greenways Road. The hearing is underway.<doc-sep>Tamil Nadu ministers O Panneerselvam, others met Karunanidhi's son MK Stalin. Tamil Nadu politicians including deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam and actor-politician Kamal Haasan called on the ailing DMK chief Karunanidhi late on Thursday evening after what doctors described as a "slight decline" in his health. Mr Karunanidhi, 94, is being treated at his Gopalapuram residence by a team of doctors, a health bulletin issued by Kauvery Hospital Executive Director Dr Aravindan Selvaraj said. The bulletin said there was a "slight decline" in Mr Karunanidhi's health and he is being treated for fever due to urinary tract infection with intravenous antibiotics and fluids. Mr Karunanidhi, who has served as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister five times, has been recovering from a long illness for more than a year and is rarely seen in public. Son, MK Stalin, 65, serves as working president of the party founded by his father's mentor CN Annadurai, in 1949 and daughter Kanimozhi, a Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament, also looks after party affairs. The DMK patriarch had returned home recently after a short stay at hospital where he underwent a procedure to change his tracheostomy tube to help him breathe better. Dr Selvaraj said he is being provided hospital level care at home and strongly advised the family to restrict visitors. As word about the decline in his health spread on Thursday night, political leaders - friends and rivals alike - reached his house. The ruling AIADMK's O Panneerselvam and fisheries minister D Jayakumar were among the first to reach his residence. In photographs that emerged, the deputy chief minister and his cabinet colleague are seen sitting in a room with MK Stalin and other senior DMK leaders. Kamal Haasan, who had received an offer from Mr Karunanidhi to join politics back in 1993, also was there to inquire about the veteran politician's health. So were Thirumavalavan of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi and former union minister GK Vasan, who broke away from the Congress to revive the Tamil Manila Congress two years ago. On his way out, Mr Panneerselvam and his cabinet colleague D Jayakumar told reporters that Mr Karunanidhi was "doing well." "Mr Karunanidhi will return in good health soon," Mr Jayakumar said. Mr Jayakumar said it was political decency for the ruling party to visit the opposition leader's residence, recalling that a DMK delegation had extended a similar courtesy to AIADMK matriarch J Jayalalithaa when she was undergoing treatment at hospital in 2016.<doc-sep>
Kamal Haasan, who was close to DMK chief M Karunanidhi, said that he knew Kalaignar as a writer before he knew him as a politician. The former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister died on Tuesday evening after waging a grim battle for life in a city hospital, leaving a void in the Dravidian politics and triggering nationwide mourning for an essentially regional leader. Remembering the veteran politician, Haasan said, "I knew Karunanidhi-ji as a writer before I knew him as a politician. The language we actors used is that of Karunanidhi's. He had an incredible flow in his writing, which was very elegant. There was a call by the Tamilians for a leader, and he was the one who filled that role." Meanwhile, Haasan's new film Vishwaropam 2 is all set to hit the screens this Friday. He said that he has a few commitments left in films, otherwise it would have been his last film. He was speaking at News 18’s event Baithak in New Delhi. On being asked whether Vishwaroopam 2 is his last film, Kamal said, “I have two commitments left in film but then I think I'm done. If left to my own devices, 'Vishwaroopam 2' would have been my last film.” He further said, “The reason I'm doing the other film is only because I had previously made the commitment.” Haasan plays the lead role of a RAW agent in the film. The film, which has been delayed over multiple reasons for the past few years, is a sequel to the 2013 film Vishwaroopam. Set for release on August 10, the movie has been simultaneously shot in Hindi and Tamil. A dubbed Telugu version will also come out. Written and directed by Kamal Haasan, the film also stars Rahul Bose, Pooja Kumar, Andrea Jeremiah, Shekhar Kapur, Waheeda Rehman. However, the release of the film is uncertain now as theatre owners in Tamil Nadu have decided to close their cinema halls for all the evening and night shows on Tuesday in the wake of Karunanidhi’s death. It’s not clear when they’ll be back to playing films.