Kamal Haasan On Film First Talked About 45 Years Ago Finally Releasing, Says 'I Was 20, Now I'm 71'

Kamal Haasan revealed that Sing Geetham was first discussed when he was 20. The filmmaker is now 71 years old.

Kamal Haasan revealed that Singeetham Srinivasa Rao's Sing Geetham was first discussed when he was 20.

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Key points generated by AI, verified by newsroom

• Kamal Haasan discussed Sing Geetham project five decades ago.
• Singeetham Srinivasa Rao, 94, directed musical film Sing Geetham.
• Singeetham, 94, holds record as oldest active filmmaker.

Kamal Haasan was in Hyderabad recently for an event held in honour of 94-year-old director Singeetham Srinivasa Rao, and the Tamil star had quite a story to tell. Standing beside one of Indian cinema's most enduring filmmakers, Kamal opened up about a film that was first discussed between the two of them nearly five decades ago, one that never got made at the time, and is now finally set to release. That film is Sing Geetham, a Telugu musical helmed by Singeetham, which hits screens on June 11. Kamal was 20 when they first spoke about it. He is 71 now.

Bond That Spans Decades

At the event, Kamal spoke warmly about how far back his bond with Singeetham goes. He shared that he was 21 when he first worked with the veteran director, calling himself Singeetham's informal assistant director at the time. "I was inadvertently, willingly, his assistant director. It so happened that I'm also the producer of the film. But the main idea was to work with him," Kamal said.

He recalled that their first real conversation about making a film together happened at the Taj Hotel in Bombay, after the Filmfare Awards. Singeetham pitched him two stories that day. One of them, called Advaita at the time, eventually got made. The other one kept getting pushed back, for years, and then decades. That other story is Sing Geetham.

"The other movie we kept talking about, we couldn't make nearly 45 years ago. That is this movie. I was 20 when we were talking about it. Now I'm 71, and I see this movie. Some ideas are ageless," Kamal said at the event. He also reflected on how nothing seems to have changed about Singeetham's love for cinema, saying, "Cinema is with him till today. And that's very rare." Sing Geetham, which was originally meant to feature Kamal Haasan, now stars Ahilya Bamroo, Ayaan K., and Shalini Kondepudi in the lead roles.

Director Is 94 Years Old

Singeetham Srinivasa Rao is 94 years old and still directing, which has earned him the title of the world's oldest living and active filmmaker. He took this record from Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood, who directed Juror #2 in 2024 at the age of 93. Sing Geetham is Singeetham's 61st feature film.

The record for the oldest filmmaker ever to have directed a film belongs to Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira, who directed at 104 and passed away at 105 in 2015. As of now, Singeetham holds the record for the oldest living and active filmmaker, though that could change if comedian and filmmaker Mel Brooks, currently 99, releases his upcoming project Spaceballs: The New One.