There is no doubt that when you make a list of the best actors ever in Indian cinema, Kamal Haasan will feature in the top five. The multiple National award winner is a multi-faceted personality who has immersed himself in the art of cinema since he has a child. Kamal Haasan has acted in multiple languages like Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, Telugu and even a Bengali movie too. He has delivered some of cinema's finest performances in Sadma, Nayakan, Mahanadi, Indian etc. Kamal is also a classically trained dancers, can write songs and even sings.

So it is of no surprise that he has even directed films. But Kamal Haasan as a director has failed to get the same amount of acclaim as Kamal the actor. Some of the main factors for this being his over-indulgence, tendency to get gimmicky (something most of his recent movies are accused of doing) and being a mouthpiece for his political and societal views. His latest film, Vishwaroopam 2, ticks every box mentioned in the previous sentence, and is a bad movie at at. But is Kamal Haasan a bad director? I don't think so.

He has made five films till now and in this special feature, we rank all his directorials from the worst to the best. Starting from the worst, of course!

Vishwaroopam 2

Vishwaroopam has its moments, but this belated sequel feels more like a disjointed film made up of deleted scenes from the first film. Even Kamal Haasan, the actor, is not in his fine form, looking too tired and sharing nil chemistry with leading lady, Pooja Kumar. Even the VFX and technical values feel sub-standard.

Vishwaroopam

The first Vishwaroopam movie met with mixed reviews (and whole lot of controversies) when it came out. While its narrative is more of a mixed bag, technically it is quite superior. The Al Qaeda portions are the film's finest portions, and Kamal himself delivers a good act as the effeminate Kathak dancer, the jihadi spy and the suave sleeper cell agent.

Chachi 420

Chachi 420 is the most fun movie Kamal Haasan had ever directed. It showcases the actor's excellent comic timing with some wonderful supporting acts from the late Amrish Puri, the late Om Puri, Nasser and Paresh Rawal. The only reason it is low on the list is that Kamal's direction is pretty average and that it is a scene by scene remake of KS Ravikumar's Avvai Shanmugi (that itself was a remake of Robin Williams' Mrs Doubtfire).

Hey Ram

Hey Ram! was a movie, that didn't get the admiration that the multilingual demanded when it came out in 2000. While Bollywood fans were unhappy with Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukerji's limited roles, others feel Hey Ram represents Kamal Haasan's over-indulgence. Both the allegations stay true, however, if we look beyond them, Hey Ram is a movie that gets better with every view. Technically proficient, the period drama deals with political themes that are so relevant in current times and some scenes are very hard-hitting. It is also one of the few movies that manage to deliver the message of peace and love successfully even after indulging in stomach-churning violence.

Virumaandi

Kamal Haasan's most confident directorial till date is also his most politically-themed movie, as well the only one not to release in Hindi. Playing a jallikattu player incarcerated in jail for false crimes, Kamal Haasan delivers a knock-out act with perfect body language and Madurai lingo. This is also perhaps the best movie that used Rashomon effect (one story told through different perspectives) so brilliantly. Also, excellent performances from Pasupathy, Napoleon and Abhirami.

Agree with our feature? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 13, 2018 09:45 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).