Nayagan was actor R Madhavan’s introduction to Kamal Hassan
Kamal Hassan’s role in the Mani Ratnam-directed 1987 film Nayagan was a classic rendition. It was a performance that completely moved me. I was a teenager when I watched it. I had just passed out of high school in Jamshedpur and it was the first time I was seeing a movie starring Hassan.

I had gone with friends after school to watch it. The film left me speechless and made me take note of Hassan’s versatility as an actor. In the film, he portrays a young orphan who is brought up by his foster-father. But he grows up only to get involved with the underworld and local smugglers. After watching the film, I read up about it in the newspapers.
When I came to know that Hassan was a 30-year-old actor then, I was completely awe-struck by the fact that he could so effortlessly get into the skin of a much younger character and portray it so convincingly. The performance earned him the National award for Best Actor and the film was sent as India’s official entry to the Oscars. I have always aimed at achieving a fraction of Hassan’s versatility in my acting.