‘Ammavum Neeye…..Appavum Neeye….’ Kamal Haasan may be an atheist. But his golden journey in filmdom started with this devotional song, which stands testimony to the talent in a small child.

The seeds for ‘Ulaganayagan’ we see now were sown when Kamal was a kid. Master Kamal Haasan, as he was known as those days, was a sought after person on the sets of his first movie ‘Kalathur Kannamma’.

Gemini Ganesan and Savithri, the lead pair of the film, would spend their leisure time with the child prodigy, who won the national award in his debut movie itself. Says AVM Saravanan, one of the sons of the legendary A V Meiyappa Chettiar, who had produced of ‘Kalathur Kannamma’:

“Kamal’s family members were happy when he was roped in for ‘Kalathur Kannamma’. His father Srinivasan and brother Charu Haasan trained him well. Kamal was an intelligent boy coupled with mischief. He would run here and there on the sets of ‘Kalathur Kannamma’ in AVM Studios.

No one would be allowed to enter my father’s room. But Kamal was a clear exception. He would vanish often from the sets. One day, he was missing for a long time. Everyone searched for him but there attempts went in vain. At last, Kamal was found on a staircase erected for lightmen. Members of the crew had a tough time to bring him down.

When he was brought to AVM Studio for the first time for screen test, he was asked to wear a makeup resembling Lord Muruga. On seeing him, Gemini Ganesan and Savithri, who were shooting for the song ‘Kangalin Varthaigal Theriyadho….’, admired his smartness.

Despite the fact that he was a small boy, Kamal was smart enough to grasp the instructions of the director. He was admired a lot by Savithri, who would refer him as her son. My father too would hail Kamal a lot for his performance.

One day, my dad asked Kamal what gift he would prefer for acting in the movie. Without taking much time to respond, Kamal said he wanted a car and an Alsatian dog. On hearing this, my father laughed and said ‘you would survive’. (‘Pizhaithu Kolvai’)

Kalathur Kannamma finally hit the screens on 12 August 1960. Everyone hailed Kamal’s performance. Generally, child artistes tend to overact. But Kamal fit to the role to a T. He won the national award for the best child artiste and received it from the hands of former President S Radhakrishnan.

My dad gifted him a brand new Fiat Car during the 100th day function of the movie. This raised many an eyebrow as Kamal was the first child artiste to get such an expensive gift. Later, he acted in films like ‘Padha Kanikkai’, ‘Parthal Pasitheerum’ (dual role), ‘Kannum Karalum’ (Malayalam), ‘Ananda Jothi’ and ‘Vanmbadi’ as a child artiste.”

And what followed, as they say, is history.