REFUGEE

Tamil superstar Kamal Hassan who recently celebrated his 50th year in the film industry, turned 55 today.

The actor who had won his first National Award as a child artist for his screen debut in 'Kalathur Kannamma' in 1959, spent a quiet day with his family away from the city, sources close to the superstar said.

Hassan, known as the 'Universal Hero', had last year urged his fans to stay off any celebrations on his birthday, citing the plight of the Sri Lankan Tamils.

The actor who has worked in upto 150 films in languages including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi has played a myriad of roles in his five decade long career, including 'Dasavataram', the film where he played ten characters.

The makers of Tamil films "Aadhavan" and "Peraasnmai", which were released during Diwali, have been forced to cut them short after they were
rejected by audiences for being too lengthy.
Kamal Haasan starrer "Unnaipol Oruvan", however, has hit the jackpot.
"The viewers were complaining about the length of both - 'Aadhavan' and 'Peraasnmai'. The filmmakers were forced to cut them short," said a source from theatre circles.

K.S. Ravikumar, director of "Aadhavan", edited out 20 minutes of the film and sent his assistant directors to all the centres to make these cuts. Meanwhile, theatre operators themselves cut "Peraasnmai" short.

"After the films were shortened, the footfalls at the theatres have slightly increased," said the source.

Kamal's "Unnaipol Oruvan", an adaptation of the Bollywood film "A Wednesday", was a hit at the box office, thanks to its length. The film is less than two hour long and it proved to be "master stroke" as it has been doing exceptionally well at almost all the centres.

Kamal's close associates inform that he is likely to keep the length of his other movies short too.