Kamal Haasan's filmography: How the actor rose to superstardom

New Delhi: Veteran actor Kamal Haasan is all set to take off on his political journey from his hometown in Rameswaram. One of the finest actors that Indian cinema has seen, Haasan has been doing path-breaking roles for over four decades and has acted in more than 200 films. 

While Haasan takes the political plunge today as he is will be unveiling his party name and flag during a meet, we take a brief look at the filmy career of the actor. 

Kamal made his first appearance on the big screen as a child artist in the 1960 Tamil language film 'Kalathur Kannamma', for which he was awarded the President's Gold Medal. After taking few more projects as a child artist, Haasan took a break to complete his education. Later, he concentrated as a dance choreographer and worked as an assistant choreographer. 

His first full-fledged role came in K Balachander's Tamil film 'Arangetram' (1973). Balachander cast him as the antagonist in his 'Sollathaan Ninaikkiren' (1973). Kamal went on to do supporting roles in films such as 'Gumasthavin Magal' (1974), 'Aval Oru Thodar Kathai' (1974) and 'Naan Avanillai'. The same year, he played his first lead role in the Malayalam film, 'Kanyakumari', for which he won his first Filmfare Award.

In Tamil cinema, he had his breakthrough as a lead actor in Balachander's 'Apoorva Raagangal'. The role won him his second Filmfare Award. 

Kamal made his debut in Hindi cinema with 'Ek Duuje Ke Liye' (1981), the remake of his own acted Telugu-language film Maro Charithra directed by K Balachander. Later, he appeared in few more Hindi films like -- 'Sanam Teri Kasam', 'Yeh To Kamaal Ho Gaya', 'Zara Si Zindagi' and 'Sadma'. His role in 'Sadma' was reprised from 1982 released 'Moondram Pirai', that had won him his first National Award. 

During the 1980s, he went on to appear in few more Hindi film out of which 'Raaj Tilak' and 'Saagar' turned out to hit. His 1997-released 'Chachi 420', in which he played the dual role, was a complete entertainer.  

Kamal also tried his hands at comedy genre. His comic performance in blockbusters like 'Apoorva Sagodharargal', 'Avvai Shanmughi', 'Pammal K Sambandam' and 'Panchathantiram' was hugely appreciated.

Kamal holds the distinction of being the only actor with the highest number of films submitted by India for the Academy Award's Best Foreign Language Film category. He also turned out become a successful producer with films like the Tamil-Hindi bilingual 'Hey! Ram', 'Virumaandi' and the controversial 'Vishwaroopam', which turned out to the be highest grossing film of 2013.

The southern star has won three National Film Awards, the second-most by any Indian actor, and nineteen Filmfare Awards. His production company, Rajkamal International, has produced several of his films.

Some of the best films of his career are 'Apoorva Sagodharargal', 'Sigappu Rojakal', 'Indian', 'Mahanadi', 'Anbe Sivam', 'Apoorva Ragangal', 'Dasavathaaram', 'Moondaram Pirai', 'Vayathinile', 'Nayagan', 'Uttama Villain', 'Sagara Sangamam', 'Thevar Magan' and 'Hey Ram!'

The actor's filmy career also consists of some of the movies which unnoticed despite having his best performance. 'Aval Appadithan', 'Raja Paarvai', 'Virumaandi, Guna', 'Varumayin Niram Sivappu' and 'Swati Mutyam' are few such films.