Veteran actor Kamal Haasan has heaped praise on Shah Rukh Khan, calling him a ‘connoisseur of art and a fine actor’ and revealed that the superstar did not charge any fees for the 2000 bilingual film ‘Hey Ram’. Written, directed and produced by Kamal, Hey Ram is a period drama that stars both Kamal and Shah Rukh in lead roles.

They played friends Saket Ram and Amjad Ali Khan respectively in the Tamil-Hindi film. At the trailer launch of his upcoming film ‘Indian 2’, Kamal said that titles like ‘star’ or ‘superstar’ do not matter while working on a film.

Kamal said at the trailer launch, “When we work together, we are all common people. I don’t see any superstar. He doesn’t see any super director. We are friends. Shah Rukh sahab made that film for free. No superstar can do this. Only a fan can do this. A connoisseur of art and a good actor. I will always be grateful to him. Later you give us that title and we accept it very shyly.”

On the professional front, Kamal Haasan will be next seen in ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ and ‘Indian 2’.

‘Kalki 2898 AD’ directed by Nag Ashwin is a dystopian film. The film stars Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Disha Patani and others.

‘Indian 2’ is a sequel to Kamal’s 1996 hit film ‘Indian’, in which he played a double role and also featured Manisha Koirala, Urmila Matondkar and Kasturi Shankar. The film was directed by Shankar, who is returning for the sequel, which is scheduled to release on July 12.

Apart from Kamal, the sequel stars SJ Suryah, Siddharth and Rakul Preet Singh in lead roles. It is produced by Subaskaran Allirajah’s Lyca Productions and Udhayanidhi Stalin’s Red Giant Movies.