In the 1980s - Kamal Hassan made his Hindi debut in Ek Duje ke Liye

It was dubbed “Madrasi Tamasha” mockingly by Bollywood

Kamal was a Tamilian, SPB was a Telugu Singer , LV Prasad the producer was Telugu Producer, K Balachander was a Tamilian

The Distributors refused to buy the film and finally LV Prasad had to distribute the film himself

Nobody believed in the script

The Film was budgeted at ₹ 52 Lakh and grossed ₹ 10.50 Crore

It shattered every record for profit that year and was the MOST PROFITABLE FILM in 6 years

Kranti, Naseeb both made lesser profits albeit a higher gross

The “Madrasi Tamasha” had become a massive blow

Now the Bollywood Financiers loved profits

They saw Kamal as an ATM Machine

He Danced, Choreographed better than their professionals, dubbed in his own accented voice and knew technical direction

Producers flocked to him

Sanam Teri Kasam was the next venture in Hindi

The film broke again all records for profit

Then came SADMA and once again the money machine cranked and raked moolah

Then came SAAGAR

By this time, Kamal was the darling of Bollywood distributors

However not everyone was happy

In 1985, Kamal bagged a Filmfare award for Best Actor in Saagar

It was a body blow to Rishi Kapoor

Kapoor acted in Saagar and was billed as main lead. Yet Kamal swept the Best Actor award clearly proving that everyone felt Kamal was the lead and Rishi was supporting.

Rishi was the Prince of Bollywood then, the son of RK, the Numero Uno Boss of Bollywood (Bachchan was King)

This was a massive insult because Rishi had been included as Best Actor for Tawaif in the same year

Kamal had bested Rishi both in Saagar and in the awards

The Kapoors saw a threat, a red flag

Then came a bigger blow

Kamals next release was with Bachchan, GERAFTAAR

It was a massive hit

Kamal was billed Co-Hero by the Distributors and Exhibitors in the posters and his size in posters was same as Bachchan (Usually the second hero only had his face appear in posters).

There was even a poster where Bachchans face was printed and on a smaller size than Kamals two images (Cowboy and hugging Poonam)

Even Rishi Kapoor was never tagged Co Hero in a Bachchan flick and Shatrugan Sinha had become violent enemies with Bachchan because of getting a Second Hero tag in Dostana

Bachchan was stunned

It didn't matter than Kamal had more screentime

Bachchan always was the First Actor even for a 10 minute cameo in those days.

The New Boy HAD TO GO

He was a Threat

The Lobby was formed

Plain and Simple - The Producers joined hands

Kapoors and Bachchans supported the Lobby secretly

Telugu and Tamil producers were told clearly “No film with Kamal with will be released. If you want our markets, keep Kamal in Madras”

Nobody had a problem with Rajinikanth. He was never a threat. He was ‘Too Dark' to ever be a threat to them. Plus Rajini always morphed to his Marathi mode whenever he was in Bombay and played the “I am a Marathi Card” and Shiv Sena was already making strong rounds and calling the Khatri dominated Bollywood as “Non Maharashtrian”

They used SARIKA as a scapegoat.

Kamal was in an affair with her and was married. Yet Sarika was openly pregnant. The “Moral” aspect was raised and Kamal told them to f**k off.

It was what they wanted.

Actresses were warned never to work with Kamal or be unofficially boycotted

Rati Agnihotri gave a dirty dirty interview about Kamals affairs during the shooting of their last movie in Bollywood which was also Kamals last until 1997.

Kamal wanted to fight but he was in personal hell as far as his marriage was concerned. His Girlfriend Sarika Thakur was pregnant and unmarried and Vani Ganapathy , hie wife was so furious she tore him apart in Madras Public Opinion.

Kamals Brahmimism didn't help. A Ferocious Anti Brahmin Lobby rose up and dissected his personal life

Ultimately in 1988, Kamal divorced Vani Ganapathy and married Sarika and finally things died down.

He delivered big hits in TN and remained a star

However Bombay was finished

In 1989, Kamal had the last laugh

Apoorva Sagodharargal was a blockbuster and Gulshan Kumar approached him to dub the film and release a Hindi version.

Kamal agreed. The Film was released as APPU RAJA.

The Film ran 220 Days!!!!

It's circuit run was more than Parinda

Yet again a realization of how devastating Kamal could have been to the Khatris

It was in 1997 that Kamal returned to Bollywood

Bachchan was nearly a bankrupt penniless businessman

The Kapoors were broken in power and Rishi Kapoor was a plump stout has been actor (Though he would bounce back a few years later as Bollywoods Numero Uno Dad) and Sanjay Dutt was in Jail

The new Bollywood was all Muslim dominated and WELCOMED KAMAL

Capitalism for all was the motto

Chachi 420 was produced by Kamal and directed by him and financed by the Muslim financier money (Jhamu Sugandh was a proxy)

It was a decent hit but nowhere near the huge success it was in TN

Yet to Kamal it was a statement that ‘He finally broke the Lobbys efforts'

By this time he was one of the two pillars of TN Cinema and seriously never intended to reenter Bollywood and take on the Khans (The Muslim Lobby would have maybe repeated a Boycott 2.0, in such a case)

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