When Kamal Haasan changed his movie's title after finding no support from Jayalalithaa

The Hindu

03-06-2025

On May 29, 2025, while some Kannada activists had just stepped up attacks on versatile actor Kamal Haasan for his controversial remark that 'Tamil gave birth to Kannada', the Thug Life star faced a mild salvo in his home State, Tamil Nadu.
Puthiya Tamilagam party founder K. Krishnasamy objected to the film's title. The politician contended that the term 'Thugs' has been used historically to describe criminals, violent rogues and gangsters. The 'Thugs and Pindaris' were violent criminal gangs during the 18th and 19th century, he said adding, naming a film with the title 'Thug' in a way glorifies such rogue way of life. Therefore, he urged the actor to avoid naming his upcoming film Thug Life.
Mr. Krishnasamy's appeal had little resonance. But, there was a time when opposition from him had forced the actor to change the original title of his film.
In the summer of May 2003, when the actor's name was spelt Kamal Hassan, he had unveiled his next venture with much fanfare in Madurai – Sandiyar. The film's posters featured an aruval (machete).
Mr. Krishnaswami objected to the title and accused the actor-producer of trying to inculcate an aruval culture in Tamil Nadu. He wanted Hassan to abandon the project. 'I will lead the agitation against the shooting of this controversial movie,' he declared.
The film's shooting was halted. Initially, the actor tried to meet the then Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa hoping to sort out the issue. However, she did not grant him an audience immediately.
Instead, Jayalalithaa told journalists 'protracted' police protection cannot be given to a film unit, which, according to her, 'deliberately chooses a controversial subject.' The duty of the police was to protect the law and order and the lives of the people and not provide protection for a protracted period for shooting a film, she said. The Chief Minister added, if the police had a 'justified apprehension' that film shooting would create a law and order problem, they were well within their rights to refuse permission.
'Asked about the role of the State in protecting artistic freedom, Ms. Jayalalithaa, herself an ex-actress, said the police were not concerned with it,' a report in The Hindu on June 14, 2003 said. However, three days later, her Secretary – I, Sheela Balakrishnan, wrote to The Hindu, denying this. 'I would like to categorically state that no such remark was made by the Chief Minister,' she said.
Questioning the Puthiya Tamilagam leader's action, The Hindu in an editorial posed: 'The question at this point is, will it not be premature, even immature, to judge a work even before the cameras have begun rolling, and the first scenes have been framed?'
Around that time, Mr. Krishnasamy contended his party's protest against the shooting of Sandiyar was not aimed at Kamal Hassan, or a single movie but was against the decadence that had set in in the Tamil film industry. The title, Sandiyar, he said, had wrong connotations and villagers, especially in southern districts, were aware of the behaviour of certain elements who called themselves so. According to him, Sandiyar meant a 'terrorist at the village-level'. He said the actor had not attempted to justify or explain the title and it was not proper on Kamal Hassan's part to have attempted to meet Jayalalithaa to seek security for the shooting.
Incidentally, Thol. Thirumavalavan (then known as T. Thirumavalavan), the leader of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (at that time, Dalit Panthers of India), welcomed Jayalalithaa's stand and appealed to the State government to take steps to ban films which tended to incite caste clashes.
Caught in a spot, Kamal Hassan and his team, which was camping in a hotel in Theni, wound up and returned to Chennai. A court set erected at Chettiyar Hall in Uthamapalayam was also removed.
A few days later, on June 20, 2003, the actor had a 25-minute meeting with Jayalalithaa at the Secretariat. Emerging from the Chief Minister's office, Kamal Haasan dramatically declared that the title Sandiyar was being dropped. 'The problems are over. The shooting will begin in Tamil Nadu,' he told journalists.
Insisting that he had not yielded to pressure, he said, 'If the title was the cause of the problem, I would change it.' Asked about the new title, he said, 'I have not yet decided. But it could be given any title. Even a name like Sakalakalavallavan — the title of an earlier blockbuster, would do for the film. For the story is strong and would work under any title.' Asked whether the Chief Minister had advised him to scrap the title, he said it was his own decision, and she said it was a 'good idea', a report in The Hindu said.
When a journalist asked him about attempts by politicians to politicise the film, he merely said: 'What I feel I need not say here. It is enough if I convey it through the film.'
The shooting of the film resumed but again was halted in mid-September. But this time, the actor said the location was shifted from Dindigul not for political reasons, but because the lakes in the district were dry and there was a delay in obtaining 'necessary equipment.'
The film then got a new title, Virumaandi. During its audio cassette launch in December 2003, ace film director K. Balachander, a mentor to Kamal Hassan, had this to say: 'Kamal has emerged unscathed from the ordeal. In fact, he has to be grateful to the people who were causing him all that misery. But for them, this film would not have had this wonderful title — Virumaandi — which is an unusual name.' The crowd rose as one man in applause.
Footnote: In August 2014, a Tamil film titled Sandiyar was released. At that time, there was hardly any whisper of a protest.