"Why I Made 'Hey Ram'": Kamal Haasan Gets Candid With Rahul Gandhi

Making the film "Hey Ram" was my idea of saying sorry to Bapu (Mahatma Gandhi), actor-turned politician Kamal Haasan said today in a conversation with Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, where the two discussed a range of issues, including politics, Chinese aggression, and cinema.  

"My father was a Congress man, but my environment made me a bitter critic of Gandhiji when I was in my teens. Around 24-25 I discovered Gandhiji on my own, and over the years, exponentially, I have become a fan," Kamal Haasan said, adding that he made the movie, which is a functional story of a parallel assassin who wanted to kill Mahatma Gandhi but changed his mind when he got closer to him, to correct himself and "say sorry".

"The worst form of criticism is an assassination, I think it's very cheap," he said.

Mr Haasan then spoke about communal harmony in the country, and argued that peace prevails until someone deliberately disturbs it. "If you got to places like Kerala, amity prevails, until you doctor it. I think there are more sides to it than just Hindu and Muslim, we have to understand that this country will only flourish with its plurality," he said.

On the Rahul Gandhi-led pan-India foot march, the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Mr Haasan said he wanted to celebrate it as it is reaching out to the people and lending the ear, "instead of standing on a podium and lecturing". That's commendable, he said.

Kamal Haasan had joined Rahul Gandhi in the Yatra when it reached Delhi on December 24 last year.

He then asked Mr Gandhi his opinion on China allegedly encroaching on Indian territory. The Wayanad MP said the government "miscalculated" the threat, and pointed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi allegedly playing down reports of Chinese aggression as a reason why the rival nation feels emboldened.

"In the 21st century, one has to have a global view about security, and that's where I think our government has miscalculated. We constantly hear about what's going on at the border, and the fact of the matter is China has taken 2,000 sq km of our territory. And frankly, we haven't said anything. The military has clearly said that they are siting in our territory, but the Prime Minister says that nobody has come. This sends a very clear message to China -- "we can do whatever we want, and India will not respond"," he said.

Mr Gandhi then claimed that in some of the conversations the Chinese are having with our military, they are saying, "your Prime Minister himself has said we are not in your territory. So, what is this conversation about?" It destroys the entire negotiation position of India, Rahul Gandhi added.

Further, like throughout his Yatra, he reiterated the importance of social harmony. 

"The single most important thing in the 21st century is that a country have internal cohesion. That there's harmony in the country, that people are not fighting, there's peace in the country, and the country has a vision. The point is not going to war, the point is being in a position where you cannot be attacked. There is a link between a weak economy, a confused nation without vision, hatred and anger, and the Chinese sitting in our territory. Because they know that we are dealing with internal confusions and lack of harmony, so they can just go in and do whatever they want," he said.

Mr Gandhi then compared Chinese tactics to Russia in Ukraine. China is adopting the same principle with India as Russia is with Ukraine, as it is threatening to alter India's boundaries, he said.

"Essentially, what the Russians have done in Ukraine is that they have said we do not want Ukraine to have a strong relationship with the west, and they have basically told the Ukrainians that if you will have a strong relationship with the west, we will alter your geography. That is the exact same principle that can be applied to India. What the Chinese are saying to us is that be careful with what you are doing, because we will alter your geography. We will enter Ladakh, we will enter Arunachal (Pradesh), and what I can see is them building a platform for that type of approach," Mr Gandhi said.