The Bharathiraja International Institute of Cinema opening function yesterday saw several luminaries in attendance such as Superstar Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, K Bhagyaraj and Vairamuthu amongst others.

Speaking at the occasion Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan lauded Bharathiraja as a creator on par with the French-Swiss legendary director Jean-Luc Godard for his amazing storytelling prowess on screen. He also revealed that in his younger days as side actor he once fell sick and Bharathiraja who was the assistant director in a film he was acting came to visit him. Kamal had spoken dejectedly to Bharathiraja about not getting a break and the latter was the one who encouraged him by predicting that one day he would become a great actor. Hearing his words Kamal went ahead for the shooting inspite of his illness and that became a turning point in his life.