When Queen Elizabeth graced the launch of Kamal Haasan’s unfinished film Marudhanayagam

Mangalore Today News Network

Chennai, Sep 10, 2022: If you are an ardent fan of Kamal Haasan, you would know by now that Marudhanayagam is his most ambitious film. Back in 1997, Marudhanayagam was launched and got a royal push from none other than Queen Elizabeth II. The film was based on the life of Marudhanayagam, who contributed to India’s freedom struggle.

 

On September 8, Queen Elizabeth passed away at Balmoral at the age of 96. She reigned for 70 years and was the longest-serving British monarch in history.

 

 

In this piece, let us recall the time when Queen Elizabeth visited Marudhanayagam’s sets in 1997.

At several events, Kamal Haasan has spoken about his ambition to adapt freedom fighter Marudhanayagam’s life into a film. He had found a British investor and mounted the film on a huge budget of Rs 85 crore.

 

Kamal Haasan invited Queen Elizabeth II as the chief guest for the launch of Marudhanayagam. On October 16, 1997, The Queen visited MGR film city where a battle scene from the film was screened for her. Reportedly, the battle scene was shot on a budget of Rs 1.5 crore. She spent 20 minutes on the film’s sets.

 

She then attended the launch and shared the stage with then-Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, Congress leader Moopanar, journalist Cho Ramaswamy, Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan, Bollywood actor Amrish Puri.

After Queen Elizabeth made her presence felt at the launch of Marudhanayagam, controversies surfaced. Many questioned the intention of The Queen as the film attempted to denounce the British. However, Queen Elizabeth did not share any comment regarding this.

Marudhanayagam was inspired by the life of 18th-century freedom fighter Maruthanayagam Pillai. He went on to become Muhammad Yusuf Khan, commandant of the sepoys of the British East India Company’s Madras Army.

Once, late novelist Sujatha, asked Kamal Haasan to read a folk ballad, which was edited by Vanamamalai, a popular Tamil scholar. When he read the work, he was impressed by the life of Marudhanayagam and made attempts to make the film.

However, a year after the launch in 1998, the British investor backed out of the project. The film was shelved. Over the years, Kamal Haasan released visuals of the film on social media. Several attempts were made to revive Marudhanayagam, but nothing materialised.

In 2020, Kamal Haasan spoke about his pet project. He said, "I envisaged that the titular character would be around 40 years of age, but I’m too old to play him now. So the only option - if we get the money to bankroll it - would be either to change the storyline or cast some other younger actor to play the role."

Kamal Haasan’s die-hard fans are still hoping that the film would be revived someday.

Courtesy: India Today