Kamal Haasan’s Tamil film scores big in Los Angeles

Kamal Haasan’s 2015 trage-comedy Tamil film Uttam Villain, which revolves around a terminally ill actor, has scored big at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival last week. It won the Best Film, Best Actor awards for Kamal Haasan, Best Music award for Ghibran and Best Sound Design award for Kunal Ranjan.

Kamal Haasan is more surprised than delighted. “We never expected to win anything. Because we never gave it any attention. We knew this was a major festival for independent films. But I was busy completing Thoongavanam and the rest of my team was also occupied with it.We just sent Uttama Villain to Los Angeles and then forgot all about it. I didn’t have the time to even think about attending the festival personally.”

When the news of the triumph reached him, he was busy with the release of Thoongavanam, a Tamil thriller. He adds, with a laugh, “This is what happens when you are a workaholic. You don’t get to enjoy your victories. But the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival means a lot for our film. Only independent films are eligible for that festival and for my studio Raj Kamal Films International, this is a huge triumph. Especially because we are struggling to survive, without being swallowed by the big corporate production houses.”