KERALA HONOURS KAMAL ON ONAM DAY
Veteran actor Kamal Haasan on Sunday said he was greatly indebted to Kerala as it was Malayalam cinema that spotted the artiste in him, nursed and helped him come up, “forgiving” his “shortcomings” as an actor. He was speaking as the chief guest at the inaugural of the ‘Onam (state’s harvest festival)—Tourism’ week celebrations organised by the state government, where Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan honoured the actor by presenting him a ‘ponnada’ (shawl) and paid glowing tributes to him as an artiste and socially-concerned individual. “It was veteran Malayalam director K. S. Sethumadhavan who initiated me into my career as a young boy. Later, I was adopted by leading Tamil director K. Balachander,” Kamal Haasan said. “I am at a loss for words to express how deeply I am indebted to Malayalis. It was they who helped me come up forgiving my shortcomings as an artiste,” he said. Referring to the eye-donation campaign being launched at his initiative here on Monday, he said, “Now the pe