“I've never believed in marriage. It was only because I loved the women that I went through it to please them. Marriage, like religion for me, is an imposition,” says Kamal Haasan.

The versatile actor says, “All I can say is that marriage is a folly that is slowly becoming redundant. In our time, they were a necessary ordeal. It's different today. I'm hopeful that one day like the vaccinations, the institution of marriage too will go away.”

On his daughter Shruthi’s entry into filmdom, he says, “I’ve never pushed her, not even into a swimming pool. It is her decision. And as a father, I need to support it.”

Ask him about his presence in Bollywood, he says, “I didn't try hard enough. To succeed here, I needed to live in Mumbai, make films consistently, and have a release every four-five years. Still, the audience was kind, they didn't forget me.”