Throwback Thursday #13 – Kamal Haasan, the dancer

Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan has been making headlines a lot recently, in the run-up to the release of his film "Vishwaroopam". First, he faced opposition from cinema-owners who were opposed to him releasing the film direct-to-home. Now, his film has been slapped with a stay order after Muslim groups said the film would incite hostility towards them due to the portrayal of terrorists. Today, the Tamil Nadu court ordered that the film cannot be screened in TN theatres until January 28th. The judge has ruled that he will watch the film himself on the 26th, after which he will make a final decision on the film’s release. 

Here is the actor himself talking about the ban:

The film is still being released in other states in India, and in countries across the world, meaning that there are now concerns about pirated versions of the film being circulated upon release.

Anyway, back to today’s Throwback Track! The "Vishwaroopam" trailers have shown us glimpses of Kamal Haasan in the role of a dancer, so today’s track is from the film "Salangai Oli" where he played an Indian classical dancer. The film was dubbed into Tamil from the Telugu film "Saagara Sangamam",  and music director Ilaiyaraja received the National Film Award for Best Music Direction for his work in this film. The song is "Nadha Vinodhangal", with vocals by SP Balasubramanyam and SP Shailaja: