Success Is Ephemeral: Kamal Haasan

In his more than 65-year film career, Kamal Haasan has done it all: acting, direction, scriptwriting, choreography, and even makeup.

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Anything left to do?

Many things. But, he declares (without a hint of false modesty), that he stopped learning at some point. Oh! Why? "Avarice," he replies.

Greed for more money got in the way, he says. "I like money. I want it to come to me," Haasan said in an interview this week.

In one of his most candid conversations about life, films, AI, philosophy, legacy, and his frailties, Haasan acknowledges the inherent contradictions of a movie star's life: the joy of reaching a "larger demographic" and the regret of not receiving real applause or honest criticism.

He should know, having been in the business almost all his life. He was just three years old when he got a role in a Tamil movie. Since then, barring a few hiatuses, the 70-year-old has been constantly reinventing himself to stay in step with the changing times. After that extraordinary career and achieving all this, does he feel like patting himself on the back and saying 'well done Kamal'?

Haasan's reply makes it clear that he sees success as ephemeral.