One of the best actors of all time, Kamal Hassan is one of the most versatile too. A three-time National Award winner, Kamal is easily my favorite actor--a person who has withstood changing times and the advent of newcomers in a highly successful way. From the late 70's till the late 90's (in the past few years, his most memorable role IMO has been "Indian"), he has acted in atleast a dozen classics -- 16 Vayadhinilae, Raja Paarvai, Moondram Pirai, Nayagan, Dhevar Magan and Mahanadi, to name a few -- and a slew of great movies -- Varumayin Niram Sivappu, Aboorva Sahodharargall, Unnaal Mudiyum Thambi, Guna (a hugely underrated movie featuring one of his most fantastic turns as an actor) and Indian among several others. His range is unparalleled and so impressive that a single paragraph is just not enough to talk about him. Everything from unforgettable histrionics, amazing dance skills, enviable comic talent and timing, fluency with dialects, accents, physical alterations, stunts, singing...everything is a part of his ever expanding repertoire. Add to this a penchant for experimenting with non-run-of-the-mill kinds of movies, you just cannot think of a better actor.

One of the best qualities of Kamal is his tendency to make his characters into believable, three dimensional, lifelike humans. As cliched it might sound, you will agree that when you are watching the old, bespectacled man in "Nayagan," you are watching Velu Nayakar and not Kamal Hassan playing Velu Nayakar.

His total dedication to his craft has made him go overboard with trying out different things and making expensive mistakes ("Vikram" and "Hey!Ram" immediately leap to mind), the unfortunate result being his participation in mediocre, crass, "masala" movies, in trying to score at the b-o. I think he should make experimental movies on a low budget (like GUNA) where he can 1. fully utilize his talent 2. prevent heavy losses--these experimental movies will never find a wide audience, however exceptional he may be 3. not feel burdened to immediately follow it up with a "commercial" movie. But having said all this, if there is a term called Commercial Classic, it would readily apply to two of his awesome movies--Aboorva Sahodharargall and Indian. These two had all the commercial ingredients necessary for b-o success and yet were so classy. Wish he would venture into such movies more often.

As a scriptwriter, he is yet to fully mature and enter the elite league of filmmakers. His involvement in the script has given us terrific movies like Raja Paarvai, Aboorva Sahodharargall (one of the very best screenplays ever written), Dhevar Magan and Mahanadi but he has had an equal amount of failed efforts like Vikram (a purposeless movie totally confused about its tone), Kadhala Kadhala (a stage-drama-like screenplay which almost nullified Crazy Mohan's hilarious lines), Hey!Ram (a good effort but too long with several dead patches) and Aalavandhaan (one of Kamal's most horrible movies--violent, gory, cheesy and boring).

Well, all said and done, its going to be interesting to see the kinds of roles that he takes on as he ages...enough of running around trees, Kamalji :)

"Are you talking to me? Well, I'm the only one here." Well, the story of how Bobby "Milk" became one of the greatest actors in Hollywood can be easily summarized in two words-- Taxi Driver. Yes, he did win the Oscar for his fine portrayal of Vito Corleone in Godfather-II but "Taxi Driver," IMO, was the one that "made" him, so to say!

The role of a gangster is what fits De Niro to a T. He can look menacing, authoritative and powerful making full use of his body language. Its this quality that has made play a guy with gray areas, in a very authentic way. His roles in "Godfather-II," "Goodfellas" and "Casino" all fit this description. But De Niro is absolutely spell-binding when he plays a violent, psycopathic, flawed character. Travis Bickle in "Taxi Driver," Jake La Motta in "Raging Bull" and Dwight in "This Boy's Life" are all characters that he brought to life in a very intense, almost disturbing way. The kind of energy that he exudes in roles like these are what makes him transcend a normal "bad guy" role. Especially his performance in Raging Bull is one of the most brilliantly realized ones in the past couple of decades. Playing a beast of a character, yet making it terrifyingly believable without ever slipping into parody (a mistake that he did in "Cape Fear") is a daunting task and De Niro was right upto the challenge, essaying the role in a truly compelling fashion.

He is a "method" actor who intensely prepares for his roles, doing research prior to shooting. This process has made him create one of the most touching, affecting characters to ever grace the silver screen-- Leonard Lowe in "Awakenings." Playing a recovering catatonic patient, De Niro moves us to tears in the scenes where he finds it impossible to resign to the fact that his "awakening" might be short-lived. His scenes with Penelope Ann Miller are some magical short-and-sweet scenes. This is one of the characters that has haunted me long after I finished watching the movie.

De Niro is also adept at comedy, as evidenced in his roles in popular comedies like "Midnight Run," "Meet the Parents" and "Analyze This." He uses his tough-guy image to telling effect, and combines it with great comic timing to create realistic characters who are placed in absurd but hilarious situations.

His collaborations with Scorsese have brought out the best in him. Lets hope they join hands together to give us another "Taxi Driver" or "Raging Bull." "Are you talking to me?"
"No, I am done!"