Director Balachandra Menon reveals why Kamal Haasan exited the ‘Ammayane Sathyam’ remake

Veteran filmmaker and actor Balachandra Menon recently opened up about an incident from the past involving legendary actor Kamal Haasan. In a recent interview, the director revealed that Kamal Haasan had once agreed to star in the Tamil remake of the Malayalam film 'Ammayane Sathyam.' The film was a success in Malayalam with plans to remake it in Tamil under the title 'Kanden Seethaiyai.' However, the project was unexpectedly dropped after shooting had already begun.According to Balachandra Menon, the Tamil remake had officially started production, and the team had completed around ten days of filming in Ernakulam. Kamal Haasan had joined the project and initially showed strong support and enthusiasm for the film. The cast and crew were working smoothly on the sets, and everything appeared to be moving in the right direction. But during the shoot, some of Kamal Haasan’s friends, including writer Crazy Mohan, visited the location. A discussion happened on the set about the story and the characters, which later led to a sudden change in the actor’s decision.Speaking with Can Channel Media, Balachandra Menon explained that the discussion on the set focused on a character where a female actor appeared in a male disguise. During that conversation, someone suggested that Kamal Haasan himself could try playing a character in a female disguise. This idea reportedly attracted the actor’s interest. Soon after, Kamal Haasan decided to step away from the remake project. The director believes that this thought eventually led to the creation of the film 'Avvai Shanmugi,' in which Kamal Haasan famously appeared in a woman’s role. The comedy film was later directed by K. S. Ravikumar and became a major hit. Even though the project ended abruptly, Balachandra Menon said he does not openly show any anger toward Kamal Haasan today. He described the actor as someone who is very focused on his own creative ideas. According to the director, Kamal Haasan was initially cooperative but later chose to follow a different creative direction after hearing the suggestion from his friends. Interestingly, the original ‘Avvai Shanmugi’ was made in 1996, and it was later remade into Hindi as ‘Chachi 420’, which Kamal Haasan directed and starred in. The episode is still remembered in the director's long career.