South Indians making it big in Bollywood is a very rare case. But whenever such "madrasi" talents do emerge in bombay, they end up stunning the entire film fanatic nation with either beauty or skill or both. Vyjayanthi Mala, Hema Malini, Sridevi and Asin have constantly presided over most North Indian dreams and A.R Rahman has been the most played artist in as many North Indian iPods. While the former set of people are a treat to watch on screen, the latter bowls you over with sheer talent. Way back in the eighties, there was a southie star who was a majestic combination of both. He was a heartthrob. He was a writer's delight. He was a rage. And He left it all when he was literally on the top giving every other actor a major run for his money. He left it because he did not like the way Bombay functioned. He came back for a brief spell in the late nineties and almost seemed to get back the glory but then there was a twist in the tale. He suddenly found the collective Bollywoodian ego working completely against him and even his latest film which was a blockbuster down south opened to lukeworm response in the north of the Vindhyas. We are talking about Kamal Haasan's Hindi Film Career.

1981. Maro Charitra had been such a revelation and the concept had to be broken to a wider audience. K.Balachander had complete faith in what definitely was among his best love stories. So they went ahead with a complete South Indian crew, except the music makers ,to Bombay to make and release what is now the probably the highest rated and most remembered Hindi romance films of all times - Ek Duje Ke Liye. And though the film as a whole was a rage, the most recognizable face out of it was that of Kamal Haasan. He had come up with a top notch performance and already every producer was taking the next flight to Madras.

And that is why you have Do Dil Diwane, Sanam Teri Kasam, Afsana Do Dilon Ka, Dil Ka Sathi Dil, and the self referential /eponymous Yeh to Kamaal Ho Gaya. These were Hindi films starring Kamal Haasan made at a mad man's pace. (Even though it is a different issue that this Kamal found this very pace slow when compared to what he could do down south. - The previous year had seen a record 22 films of his, release). These Hindi films were mostly average, though some of them managed to gross huge earnings in the market. Most of them missed the basic point though and the North Indian audience , by now, had a confusing image of Haasan. Is he the award winning kind of guy, Or does he just dance well?

Every speculation was put to rest with Sadma, the dubbed version of Moondram Pirai. It made every Mumbaikar sit up and watch in awe the multiple talents of Kamal, Ilayaraja and Balu Mahendra in display. But then again, Kamal went into another streak of now-hardly-known set of Hindi movies. Namely Raj Tilak, Yaadgar, Ek Nai Paheli, Yeh Desh, Pyasa Shaitan, and Aakhri Sangram. Some of these remakes, Some original, Mostly low profile. None making a dash whatsoever in the bolly market.

1985.Then came his second major attack at the Hindi hearts. Saagar was the name of the film. Guru's of romance, Kamal Haasan and Rishi Kapoor engaged in a complex triangle with the now much more mature Dimple Kapadia. The film was a Blockbuster the moment it released and made big at the awards circuit too. Kamal bagging the very rare honour of being the best actor and the best supporting actor in the same Filmfare awards. (The logic of this has however always beaten my mind). Saagar was a perfect show from Kamal. A textbook on how subtle acting should be. Probably learnt from his Aval Appididhaan Days. And it is at this very moment that Kamal was ready to be King. The Amitabh era was inching towards a close and there was no visible successor. Had Kamal stayed on, the gap would have been filled. But he chose to stay away. The way bollywood functioned was not to his liking. Right from the fact that most shootings ran late and the whole setup was not very professional. Kamal had major plans for his industry back home and we know how well he executed them from Nayakan to Anbe Sivam.

From Saagar onwards, if at all there was a Kamal film releasing in Mumbai, it would only be a dubbed version of his Tamil hits. Pushpak did not need dubbing and went on to be a huge hit among the connoiseurs. Aboorva Sahodrargal was dubbed as Appu Raja and caught on with the Hindi crowd like a magnet. The entertainment quotient was too high for distributors to put it down and so the film was a huge success. But after this, for a long long time when Kamal was missed up there, he was here busy producing Guna, writing Mahanadi, Making Kurudhipunal and the likes.

1997. Shankar's Indian was released simultaneously in Hindi as Hindustani and the counters started clicking again. There was a huge buzz about the entire film and every distributor was busy buying its rights and re releasing it as and when possible. The fact that Urmila and Manisha were on top, also helped and Kamal was suddenly back with a brand new bag of tricks for the North Indians.

1998. Going along with the momentum that Hindustani had given him, Kamal decided to remake (not dub) his tamil hit Avvai Shanmughi into Hindi. There was a new director and the whole cast was new and fully bollywood. A few weeks into the shooting, Kamal had major differences with the newcomer director and so he bid him goodbye. He took on the director's mantle, officially for the first time in his career (He wanted to reserve this till Marudhanayagam but fate had other plans). And so Chachi 420 was born. The film will be remembered as Kamal Haasan's biggest and LAST Hindi hit. Because after this, the slide went downwards and has not stopped yet.

Hey Ram was not expected to do well anyway and to ensure some amount of visibility, Kamal roped in Shahrukh (who reportedly worked for free because he was so amazed by the script) . But shahrukh could not help. The film came in for heavy praise from the critics but literally failed to reach the masses. Thanks to numerous bans by local distributors leery of its heavy-hitting themes. Abhay was a collosal flop. Unlike Heyram, even the critics turned their backs this time round. Mumbai Express followed suit and was decently joined by Dasavathar - The Hindi dub of the Tamil Blockbuster.

The obvious conclusion one can make out of this career is that the actor has got his timing wrong. To release Dasavathar during multiplex Raj and to make Hey ram when no one even read reviews is not the way it works. But regardless of box office and regardless of what Taran Adarsh thinks about Dasavathar. No Indian who has ever followed Hindi Cinema will disagree with the fact that Kamal is the most versatile actor to have grazed bolly land. The variety in roles and the professionalism in performance will forever remain unmatched and who knows? As Kamal recently declared his plans to make a multilingual with a national cast, those glory Days may just be an year away.