Kamal warns website for cashing in on his fame

By: Settu Shankar
Thursday, October 25, 2007

Legendary actor Kamal Hassan strongly warned some people, who run a website using his name and trying to cash his fame. According to a statement issued by Kamal Hassan to media on Monday, he strongly condemned the miscreants, who had done the mischief calling themselves his fans. Kamal Hassan is upset over a recent incident dragging his name into an unseemly controversy for which he and his genuine fans are in no way responsible.

Kamal says: "Some people are running a website named www.universalherokamal.com and are involved in selling T-shirts advertising my images and photographs of my movies in collaboration with Kamal Hassan fans' community in Orkut. All these are being carried out without obtaining my prior permission. It is illegal and I am going to take severe action against them, if they don't stop these mischievous activities immediately..."

When we explored the portal mentioned in Kamal's statement, we found that the site contains details of the actor's forth coming films, Association news and other activities of the fans in detailed manner. Kamal said that he had been running his fan's welfare association only to serve the public without any financial profit. Some 20 years ago under his leadership, Kamal was perhaps the first actor in the history of Indian cinema to convert his fans associations into welfare associations (Kamal Hassan Narpani Iyakkam).

He had published a magazine called Mayyam for a while to convey his messages to his ardent fans. Every year on his birthday, the association is conducting programmes like free eye camp, blood donation, providing educational aids etc., Urging his fans to be 'vigilant' against such portal businesses, Kamal said steps had been taken to initiate legal action against those misusing his name for commercial gains.