Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan is not only a master actor but also a writer, director and very effective producer also. However, they forget that Kamal, in his great career has also written and directed some of the greatest classics ever made. The pan-India star scripted the story of the Hindi version of Kamal Haasan’s Tamil super hit. The Kamal Haasan film that witnessed a few modifications was Virasat (1997), the Amrish Puri, Anil Kapoor and Tabu starrer that was the official remake of Thevar Magan (1992) shot in India. The family drama mainly focus on Shakti (Anil) an American returned student who wants to change his village and wants to become a doctor in city. But originally, he becomes a chief of his village, and he has to defend his family and his nation from other tribes.
When Kamal decided to make the Hindi remake of Thevar Magan, Dilip Kumar preferred to cast as the village’s mukhiya Raja Thakur but Kamal actually begged him to do the film; but the late actor refused since he was not acting in films anymore. Therefore, Kamal surrendered the rights of the film to Bharat Shah.
Interestingly, according to IMDb, Farookh Sheikh was first offered the role of Dilawar but refused it; that is why Anil Kapoor was not the first preference for the filmmakers. It was heard that Shah Rukh Khan initially got approached for the movie but he declined to be a part of it. Likewise, Naseeruddin Shah also turned down the chance to do Raja Thakur’s role. Speaking of the actresses, Raveena Tandon was approached to play Tabu’s character and Sridevi – Pooja Batra’s, but both refused the roles for some reason.
Starring Shatrughan Sinha and Nagma, Virasat, which hit the cinema theatres on May 30, 1997 was said to have begun on a low key. However, it received good responses in the word of mouth; therefore, Virasat turned out to be a hit movie and grossed 16. 36 crores worldwide. In the professional front Kamal Haasan is tapped as the main antagonist Supreme Yaskin in the movie Kalki 2898 AD. He will next be seen in the sequel of Indian, titled as Indian 2.
