Veteran actor Yatin Karyekar has opened up about his experience of working with Kamal Haasan, making some strong claims about the veteran actor’s approach on film sets. Looking back at their time together on Hey Ram and Vasool Raja MBBS, Yatin alleged that Kamal often made creative choices to protect his on-screen image and was unwilling to include scenes that could make his character appear vulnerable.
A key scene was changed, claims Yatin
One of Yatin Karyekar’s strongest claims was about Vasool Raja MBBS, the Tamil remake of Munna Bhai M.B.B.S., where Kamal Haasan played the character made famous by Sanjay Dutt. Speaking to Siddharth Kannan, Yatin recalled that an important moment from the original film was changed during the remake. Calling him self-obsessed, he said, “Kamal Haasan is very self-obsessed. We were shooting for Vasool Raja MBBS. The scene where Jimmy Shergill slaps Sanjay Dutt in the Hindi version was being recreated in Tamil, but he didn’t let that scene happen. He replaced the slap with a push.”
Yatin said the assistant director looked visibly tense while the change was being discussed. He admitted he was surprised by the decision and remembered wondering, “When a Sanjay Dutt can do it, what is this man’s problem?”
The father-son relationship lost its impact
Yatin also believes the remake lost some of the emotional depth that made the original film so memorable. In Munna Bhai M.B.B.S., Sunil Dutt’s performance as Munna’s father brought a sense of authority that made the father-son relationship one of the film’s biggest emotional strengths.
Sharing his view, Yatin said, “Nobody could say, ‘Ae, jaa na,’ to Kamal Haasan in the role of his father in the film.” He felt there wasn’t an actor who could bring the same commanding presence opposite Kamal, which is why the relationship came across as more light-hearted and comedic rather than emotionally intense like it did in the Hindi version.
He says controversy was part of Kamal’s approach
Yatin also claimed that Kamal Haasan deliberately courted controversy because he believed it helped keep the spotlight on himself and his films. Recalling an incident during the shooting of Hey Ram, Yatin said Kamal once sat in front of an aeroplane to protest a flight delay, an episode that went on to receive significant media attention.
Yatin said this wasn’t an isolated incident and felt it reflected Kamal’s way of thinking. While he acknowledged that people are complex, he believed Kamal had a habit of staying in the middle of controversies, something he did not agree with. Even so, Yatin made it clear that he has immense respect for Kamal’s craft, describing him as a brilliant technician and filmmaker despite disagreeing with the way he handled his public image.
About Vasool Raja MBBS
Released in 2004, Vasool Raja MBBS brought Rajkumar Hirani’s much-loved Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. to Tamil audiences. Directed by Saran, the film starred Kamal Haasan in the lead, alongside Prabhu, Sneha, Prakash Raj, and Nagesh. Yatin Karyekar and Rohini Hattangadi reprised the same role they had played in the Hindi version.