Quentin Tarantino was inspired by Kamal Haasan’s Abhay which turns 21 today – Times of India

That film was Kamal Haasan’s Abhay which released on November 16 in 2001.

Most movie buffs remember the animation-action sequence used to depict some gruesome scenes in the movie. This style, Japanese Manga animation, was first used in 2001 by Kamal Haasan. He used it in the Tamil movie Aalavandhan (Abhay in Hindi) to portray violence.

Anurag Kashyap first heard about this influence from Sight and Sound critic Naman Ramachandran. He then happened to meet Tarantino in Venice and asked him whether the Manga sequence in Kill Bill was inspired from an Indian film. Kashyap has revealed that Tarantino had excitedly remarked, “Yes, I saw this Indian serial-killer film which showed violence as animated.”

Kamal Haasan, who played a psychopath in Abhay, was very happy to hear that such a brilliant director had been inspired by him. “When I did the animation action sequence in 2001 it was seen as self-indulgent and odd by a lot of people. After it was endorsed by a filmmaker of such brilliance, critics were kinder to some of the things I attempt in my films.”