No pariahs, have a political buffet to choose ally from: Kamal Haasan

NEW DELHI: On the brink of his political launch, actor Kamal Haasan said at the Times Litfest Delhi on Saturday that the proverbial dirt one gathered along the way in the field was "washable".

Unwilling, just yet, to reveal the name of his political party, or when he will formally launch it, Haasan insisted on letting the matter rest by saying the name and manifesto would reach the people soon.

In a question and answer session replete with witty replies, the actor combined the ideas of Martin Luther King and Adi Sankara to say he had dared to dream and was not worried about the outcome. He said, "I have a dream. I have dared to dream. I am a part of 'jagrut swapna'- to be awake in a dream.
And there is no fear of failure because it is not about movie-making or making money; it is about making ourselves better."

Insisting that political office did not matter to him and that he was only out for "pedestrian reasons" to deliver what had "so far been denied to the people of Tamil Nadu", Haasan said he would begin the "clean-up at his doorstep", and that he would ally with anyone for the sake of his home state.

"...We will ally with whoever is good. There are no untouchables in politics.

Emphasising that there were no pariahs in politics, and that he had a veritable "political buffet" to choose from, the veteran actor also dodged questions about whether he would likely ally with BJP.

Haasan also termed "wrong" the increasingly "oversensitive" reactions to art and cinema.

"People judge films without even seeing them," he said, while reserving comment on the controversial ' Padmavati', which he said he had not seen.