![\"Why](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/kamalhaasan21748664816.jpg\")
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Kamal Haasan has never shied away from controversy. Whether on screen or off it, the actor, director, and political figure has often found himself in the eye of the storm \u2014 something he seems to accept, even embrace.<\/p>\n
The latest flashpoint came during his graduation speech at MIT where he made a provocative statement about Kannada being derived from Tamil.<\/p>\n
The comment drew ire in Karnataka, leading the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) to threaten a ban on his upcoming film Thug Life \u2014 a major Tamil release that reunites him with Nayakan director Mani Ratnam after nearly four decades.<\/p>\n
But this is far from Haasan\u2019s first brush with backlash.<\/p>\n
In 1992, Thevar Magan was accused of portraying the Thevar community in a violent light, even though it later won five National Awards.<\/p>\n
His 2004 film Virumaandi (originally titled Sandiyar) faced political opposition for allegedly promoting caste violence.<\/p>\n
Dasavathaaram (2008) angered Hindu groups, and 2013\u2019s Vishwaroopam was temporarily banned in Tamil Nadu for alleged anti-Muslim content, despite receiving CBFC clearance.<\/p>\n
Haasan held special screenings to appease protesting groups, and eventually, the Madras High Court lifted the ban \u2014 after the film had already released in other states.<\/p>\n
Despite the controversy, Vishwaroopam grossed \u20b9220 crore and won two National Awards.<\/p>\n
Yet, he wasn\u2019t done ruffling feathers. In interviews and opinion pieces, Haasan accused Hindu groups of weaponizing festivals and even said \u201cyou cannot say there is no Hindu terror.\u201d<\/p>\n
His remarks on the Mahabharata, describing Draupadi as a pawn, led to a PIL from right-wing groups.<\/p>\n
In 2019, while campaigning for his political party Makkal Needhi Maiyam, Haasan sparked further outrage by calling Nathuram Godse \u201cindependent India\u2019s first extremist\u201d \u2014 a comment he defended as historical fact.<\/p>\n
Even his 2000 film Hey Ram, which portrayed a fictional plot to assassinate Gandhi, was seen by some as revisionist and controversial.<\/p>\n
Haasan played the protagonist, Saket Ram, who ultimately chooses not to go through with the assassination. Again, he defended his work under the banner of artistic liberty.<\/p>\n
Haasan has never apologized for his choices, and perhaps that\u2019s the point.<\/p>\n
The firestorm around Thug Life continues, with backlash over his kiss with a much younger actor, Abhirami, and a suggestive dialogue aimed at Trisha\u2019s character in the trailer.<\/p>\n
But Kamal Haasan isn\u2019t just an artist \u2014 he\u2019s a calculated entrepreneur who\u2019s also co-producing the film with Mani Ratnam and Udhayanidhi Stalin\u2019s Red Giant Movies.<\/p>\n
He may be in the middle of yet another controversy, but as history shows, Kamal Haasan often emerges \u2014 critically and commercially \u2014 on top.<\/p>\n
Thug Life is slated to release on June 5, 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kamal Haasan has never shied away from controversy. Whether on screen or off it, the actor, director, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":146545,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3940],"tags":[4080,77,36626,63037,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-146544","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-kamal-haasan","11":"tag-thug-life","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114601938410711732","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}