According to Kamal Haasan, he detested the classic Bollywood film Sholay after watching it. On the movie, which starred Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Hema Malini, and Jaya Bachchan in the key roles, Kamal served as the assistant director.
At the San Diego Comic-Con on Friday, Kamal, Prabhas, and Rana Daggubati introduced their upcoming movie, Kalki 2898 AD. The sci-fi movie, which was directed by Nag Ashwin, also stars Amitabh and Deepika Padukone, however they were not there when the movie was announced. Amitabh remotely joined the cast for the performance.
Kamal was praising Amitabh Bachchan during his speech at a promotional event for his next movie when the Bollywood star intervened. Kamal added, “What is so great is the energy that our audience brings to our cinema. We make the movies, they make the stars. And, it is an honour to sit with the audience and watch the likes of Prabhas and Amitabh Bachchan.”
Amitabh, over a video call told him, “Stop being so modest, Kamal, you are much, much greater than all of us. This is not a performance you have to put up. The kind of work Kamal has done is very difficult to achieve. Each one of his films is filled with so much reality and effort that he puts in. It is an honour to be in the same film as him.”
Kamal then shared his insights on Amitabh’s most lauded film – Sholay. “For those who remember Sholay with nostalgia, I was an assistant director. And, I couldn’t sleep that night when I saw Sholay. First, I hated the film so much, I hated the filmmaker (Ramesh Sippy) even more. And I had the opportunity of working with that great filmmaker and I told him that that was my reaction when I saw the film. As a technician, I couldn’t sleep that night and that’s the kind of movie… many such movies Amit ji has done, and to hear him say nice things about my films is something I had not imagine when I was an assistant director and watching Sholay on the big screen. Thank you, Amit ji,” he added.
Amitabh and Kamal have previously collaborated on the 1985 film Geraftar, which also starred Rajinikanth, in addition to the recent Sholay movie and the impending Nag Ashwin movie.
Disha Patani will probably be in the movie Kalki 2898 AD, which is set for a January 12, 2024, theatrical release and is produced by C Aswani Dutt’s Vyjayanthi Movies.