In his career spanning 59 years and counting, there’s no refuting that  Kamal Haasan continues to rule the (showbiz) roost. The Indian cinema stalwart, and his films – no matter how old they get – remain a classic. Turns out, the legendary actor’s movie inspired the Oscar-Winning filmmaker, Quentin Tarantino to shoot a manga scene for his iconic movie, Kill Bill!

On the occasion of Haasan’s 68th birthday, let’s revisit a time when Tarantino opened up about being hugely inspired by the mega actor’s movie, Abhay aka Aalavandhan. He confirmed the same with filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who chatted up with the ace Hollywood director at the recently-held Venice Film Festival.  

Kashyap seized the golden opportunity to quiz Tarantino on various topics. And, as the conversation progressed, the two started discussing Kill Bill: Volume 1. Just then, Kashyap inquired whether the animated Manga (graphic novel style that originated in Japan) sequence in Kill Bill was inspired by any Indian film. To which Tarantino responded, “Yes, I saw this Indian serial-killer film, which showed violence as an animated (series).” While Tarantino did not disclose the name, Kashyap joined the dots and noted that there has been only one Indian film, which used animated violence and, was released around the same timeline as Kill Bill. Turns out, it was none other than Kamal Haasan’s 2001 release, Aalavandhan. Kill Bill: Volume 1 was released roughly two years later, which fuelled speculations that it was indeed this film that inspired Tarantino’s manga scene.  

You May Watch The Two Scenes Here: 

Kill Bill: 

Aalavandhan: 

Aalavandhan is directed by Suresh Krissna, and the movie’s screenplay has been written by Kamal Haasan. The film follows the story of two brothers (both played by Haasan), who were abused by their stepmother. The childhood trauma turns one brother into a psychopath, who later tries to kill his brother’s fiancée as he hallucinates her as his stepmother. The film was dubbed in Hindi as Abhay.  

(Featured Image Credits: Twitter @kamalhaasan)