Actor par excellence, Kamal all set for "action" again

Chennai, Aug 20 (UNI)The avowed 'non-believer' that he is, super star-actor Kamal Hassan may not admit to it, but his 'stars' are looking up, more than a year after he has had a box-office hit worth mentioning.

Starring in comedies after his much acclaimed ''Virumandi'' in 2003, including the remake of Bollywood hit ''Munnabhai MBBS'', the much acclaimed actor's comedy flick ''Mumbai X-Press'', fell flat at the box office last year.

Kamal then ran into bad luck with his new film, ''Vettaiyadu Vilayadu'' , as the release of this slick action film seemed to be in doubt with the financier running into trouble.

But, all that has changed now, for the better for the actor: ''Vettayadu Vilayadu'', in which he plays a tough cop is all set for release by the end of this month.

What's more the actor, known for his great penchant for doing something different, will be back with a bang playing as many as ten roles in another new film which he has titled 'Dasavatharam', referring to the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu.

Like a few of his previous ventures, in which Kamal emulated Hollywood greats like Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro, in 'Dasavatharam', he will be emulating his idol late thespian Sivaji Ganesan by playing one role more than the nine Sivaji had played in his 1960s film ''Navarathri''.

The film, to be released early next year, was launched a couple of days ago. Predictably, Kamal and director K S Ravikumar are keeping the subject of the film under wraps.

Then, there is more to come for Kamal fans. Another of his earlier launches ''Marudanayakam'', the saga of a freedom fighter, which he was forced to abandon after shooting 11 minutes of the film about six years ago, may see the light of day finally.

According to sources close to Kamal, 'talks' are on with a financier in Los Angeles but things are yet to be finalised. Kamal had launched this film with great fanfare with Queen Elizabeth switching on the camera during her visit to Chennai then.

After 'Dasavatharam', Kamal has signed a new film with Producer- Director Cheran, who directed hits like ''Bharathi Kannamma'' and national award winner ''Autograph'' in 2004.

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