14-Dec-1989 -The cold winds are howling across on a winter day in Sialkot ,Pakistan and the temparatures were freezing.A 16 year old walks out to middle to face the most fearsome and brutal bowling attack of our times -Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis-backed by the legendary Imran Khan.. A hell of a ball hits the boy on the helmet with blood oozing from the nose.But the boy shows no nerves, just has a glare at the bowler and refuses any medical assistance. Since then the world of cricket was never the same again and a legend is born.15-Nov-2009- The boy still around and completes 20 years of cricket .Mountains of cricket records to his name and the list still growing.The statisticians have run out of ideas keeping track the no.of records in the man's name ( OOPS!!! still a boy's name)
ar old boy who was so cute and very mischievous. He asks him "Thambi, en padhathila Nadikiraya?"(Boy do you want to act my film), Athuku andha paiyan(For which the boy replies)"Ennaku, Pomeranian nai vangi thanthingana Nadikiren" (If you buy me a pomeranian dog I will act in the film). That producer agrees with him and the boy acts in that film). The producer was AVM. The film is "Kalathur kanamma" ,releases on Aug12,1959 and the boy receives National award for the best child artiste.The range of characters the boy went on to do is still something unparalleled in Indian cinema.
Aug12,2009-The boy has completed 50 years in cinema and over 200 films spanning more than quarter of a dozen languages, a record 4 national awards,19 filmfare awards ...the list goes on. After his latest award in 2000 ,the boy has written to the organisation to exempt him from further awards.
These guys continually set benchmarks for themselves.Let it be the upper cut,masterly cover drive , on drive,cheeky paddle sweep etc of Sachin or the unforgettable performances of Kamal in Moondram pirai,Nayagan, etc. Surviving 10 to 15 years in any field is great by any standard. But 20 or 50 years in any field is a monster of an achievement ,something incomprehensible for any ordinary folks like us.Contrary to what many people believe, money ceases to be a motivating factor after a certain time and it takes more than that to survive all these tough years in professional life. What do people like them share in common ? A seven letter Mantra called "Passion" They are intensely passionate about their job,continuous commitment to the passion .But the most important thing, I think, keeps them apart from the rest of the crowd is their "Willingness to learn". It is what keeps the fire in the belly without getting extinguished after all these long years of yeoman service to their respective fields. . The one thing not to be forgotten is that they are still competing with people almost half their age and they may not be physically as good as they were in their 20's .
When people almost write off these guys and their retirement talks seems to be in the air ,their passion helps them rise like phoenix from the ashes. Definitely age is to catch up with them (Actually just trying for a long,long time).But they are still giving their contemporaries and rookies a run for their money. When the young competitors think that they have come somewhere close to their achievements,they have other ideas.They have raised the bar and already hit a new high.
Let's explore the first "c"
The critics often comment that "Sachin is not the best player anymore,he better hang up his boots",etc.His knocks have not been matching ones,has not won a World cup for the country".Let these guys know that game of cricket is a team affair and just one man show is not enough to win matches.The reason players from countries like Australia and South Africa have been involved in many match winning knocks is that they have been backed by some excellent bowling and some gravity defying fielding.
A person playing for 20 years after all injuries from head to foot ,it speaks volumes of his fortitude. Everytime his game or his body has thrown up a challenge,he has taken it up with a big heart and has come out stronger .Just to survive those pecking complaints itself, is a no mean achievement.Averaging around 55 in tests ,45 in ODI's ,30000 international runs,nearing half century of centuries in test and ODI's. Do the critics need any more numbers than this ??? .In the past decade, Ponting seems to have closed in on him but the guy is buzzing again ,seems to be in the prime of his life in the past two seasons and the gap is again starting to widen. In case, if critics say a player cannot be chosen based on his past records alone,I have got something to say aloud .Another myth has been shattered in the just concluded IPL - that T20 is a young man's format. The guy has got an orange cap and the guy is 37 years young !!! a week back.
What sets him truly apart from rest of the people at the top , I believe are two things .First of all not a single incident of on-field break of code of conduct in all these years.He has let his bat do the talking all these years. But the most important thing I would say has been his longevity.According to a latest stat "He becomes the first modern player whose career has spanned across Four decades" .At the heart of all of this has been his child-like enthusiasm.,still enjoying the game ,celebrating every moment like a candy -loving kid and his double ton is truly an icing on the cake.
lets's move from one "c" to another
Wrt to UH ,learning ,learning and learning ,nothing less.In addition to an actor and a director, he is a screenwriter, lyricist, screenwriter,choreographer .....................The list just seems to be endless and growing everyday.The effort put into each performance is just staggering. The effect of the greats of Tamil cinema like Nagesh,Sivaji Ganesan,K.Balachandar,Bharathiraja,Balu Mahendra from whom he had learnt or lived since he was a 5 year old definitely seems to have a profound effect on him. As said rightly by Sir Isaac Newton"If I have seen further it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants".Since his first movie ,he has been now and then frequented by controversies for almost all his movies. But the way he has handled all these controversies is absolutely fantastic and the most important thing is that he has never allowed these controversies to interfere his work.
His love for cinema is evident from the fact that he has spent most of his earnings in cinema only in cinema thru,his production house ,Rajkamal International which has given some of the best movies of our times starting from the path breaker of 80's "Vikram" to another path breaker again of 2K's "Unnaipol oruvan" . The list also includes some the best Tamil cinema has seen which includes Devar Magan,Virumandi, Hey Ram all of which is an exhibtion of a genius called Kamal. The reason why films like Kurudhipunal,Hey Ram ,Anbe Sivam were never a commercial success even though they were critically well acclaimed and were the best in the class baffles me to this day.This only further stresses the reality that this man is probably way,way ahead of our times.
1) Less of Kamal the actor and more of Kamal the screenwriter and director in the coming days and he needs to create a generation of Kamal Hassans who can serve cinema for generations to come.
2) Put all his ego behind (the same applies to other stars as well) and get involved in many more multistarrers like "Unnaipol oruvan" which augurs well for Indian cinema and in particular Tamil cinema so that we can expect a "Godfather" like Indian movie atleast in the near future.
3) It's time he goes global.The world needs to know of this genius .I hope to see a "Kamal-Tarantino" or a "Kamal-Scorsese" or a "Kamal-Clint Eastwood" combination one day on the screen.It might be one of the best moments of my life as a cinema lover.
