Kamal Haasan delves into how art is no longer judged by quality: ‘They just look at my collections’

Tamil star Kamal Haasan recently talked about the changing standards of success in cinema. The veteran actor shared his thoughts on how box office numbers have now become the main measure of success in the film industry.

While speaking at The Week leadership summit in Tamil Nadu, he said that the “system of marking” has changed. He shared that earlier, movies were largely judged by their quality, but now it's about how many crores they made. “Now, they tell me I escape the marks. I have made my mark in the field. But now, the system of marking has changed. It is about how many crores you can make. That is my mark now,” he said.




Comparing it to exams, he said it does not matter how well he writes his paper but the final number on the scorecard does. He said, “So, it is not about quality; it isn’t about how well I write my exam or what my content is… nobody reads my article. They just look at my collections. I still suffer under the same order, the hegemony that pushes me toward something I don’t care about.”

Kamal Haasan on excellence over money

Kamal Haasan said he believes in excellence. For him, art is not about money. It is about its impact. ”What I care about is excellence, while what they care about is the end result, which is reduced to money. The end result of my idea of art should be to make uncomfortable people comfortable with my art and to make very comfortable people very uncomfortable,” he added.

Kamal Haasan’s upcoming film

On the work front, Kamal Haasan is currently working on his upcoming movie tentatively named ‘KH237’, which is directed by the action duo Anbarivu and written by Syam Pushkaran. At the same time, he is backing Rajinikanth’s upcoming film ‘Thalaivar 173’ and will also be seen sharing screen with him in the tentatively titled ‘Thalaivar 174 x KH 238’.Get the latest entertainment updates from the Times of India, along with the latest Hindi movies, upcoming Hindi movies in 2026 , and Telugu movies.”