Kamal Haasan

Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian filmmaker and politician, currently serving as a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha for Tamil Nadu. He is an actor, director, producer, screenwriter, playback singer and lyricist who works primarily in Tamil cinema. He has also worked as an assistant director, choreographer, editor, make-up artist, narrator, television host, and a distributor of films. He founded a magazine, Maiam (lit. Center), which he edited, and has written over 100 poems and some books. He has made over 250 films in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali. He was conferred the Kalaimamani in 1978, the Padma Shri in 1990, the Padma Bhushan in 2014, and the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier) by the Government of France in 2016. He was invited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2025 to become a member of its actors' branch. Haasan was the first Tamil actor to convert his fan clubs into welfare associations. He was appointed an ambassador by the United Nations in 2007, for its joint campaign with the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society to protect the rights of people living with HIV. On 21 February 2018, he launched a political party, Makkal Needhi Maiam (lit. People's Justice Centre). On 25 July 2025, he took oath as a member of Rajya Sabha (Council of States), the upper house of the Parliament of India.