When Kamal Haasan had Vikram director Lokesh Kanagaraj as his make-up artist for 32 days

Filmmaker Lokesh Kanagaraj is a self-confessed Kamal Haasan fan. Ahead of the release of their upcoming Tamil action film Vikram, the young filmmaker revealed how he got an opportunity to personally do make-up for Kamal Haasan for 32 days on the sets of Vikram. Also read: Kamal Haasan on working with Vijay Sethupathi and Fahadh Faasil in Vikram: ‘I always think of talent as competition’

The film also stars Suriya, Vijay Sethupathi and Fahadh Faasil. The project marks the maiden collaboration between Lokesh and Kamal Haasan, whom the former considers his guru.

In an interview to Galatta, Lokesh spoke about how he got an opportunity to do make-up for Kamal in the movie. Talking about the best memory he took back home as a Kamal Haasan fan, he said, “I always wondered why he was interested in doing his own make-up. He told me about the history behind it. So, we had to do blood make-up for him for the movie. I asked him if I could do it on him. He agreed, and I spent half an hour doing the make-up. He liked my work, and asked who should take it forward from hereon. I told him I wanted to do it for him if he’s ok with it. He said he’s ok if I am ok. That’s how I became the first director to do make-up on Kamal Haasan. I was his make-up artist for 32 days.”

Lokesh went on to reveal how Kamal Haasan signed on the dotted line of the project in the look of the octogenarian Senapathy character from Indian 2. “As a fanboy, I always yearned to get an autograph from him. To see him come in the look of Indian thatha (the old man from Indian) and sign the agreement as producer, I can’t express it in words,” he said.

Vikram, which is gearing up for release on June 3, was supposed to be wrapped up last November. The shoot had to be postponed after Kamal Haasan tested positive for the coronavirus. Eventually, the makers decided to shoot the entire schedule indoors in a specially built set for the sake of Kamal’s health.

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