April 11 (Punjab Khabarnama) : Ever since the trailer for Todd Phillips’ musical psychological thriller Joker: Folie à Deux dropped on Wednesday, the internet hasn’t been able to get over the brilliance of the final shot, featuring Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck and his signature red smile on a glass wall. However, now a parallel has caught everyone’s attention, which goes all the way back to Suresh Krissna’s 2001 action thriller Aalavandhan, starring Kamal Haasan.
Aalavandhan vs Joker
On Wednesday, the official Instagram handle of IMDb India shared a montage video of two shots – the last bit from Joker 2 trailer and the other from Aalavandhan, where Kamal Haasan is seen looking himself in the mirror. His lips fit into a blood-red sinister smile on the mirror. He looks himself in disbelief, before turning away in guilt.
This is eerily similar to the last shot of Joker 2 trailer, where Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn meets her love interest Arthur in the prison. As the two communicate using actions from either sides of the glass wall, she draws The Joker’s signature red smile on the glass, and Arthur fits his smile against that, sporting a mischievous expression.
Kamal Haasan did it first!
Fans were elated to discover that their homegrown hero Kamal Haasan did in 2001 what Joaquin and Todd Phillips did now, 23 years later. One user commented on the post, “Ahead of times !!! Genius (take a bow emoji).” “Kamal Hasan is the gem of our Country (red heart emoji),” wrote another. “I am going to start a series #KamalHaasan did it first,” posted a third one.
Aalavandhan was adapted from Dhayam, a novel written by Kamal Haasan back in 1984. With magic realism peppered all over it, the film stars Kamal in a double role. It also starred Raveena Tandon and Manisha Koirala. It was shot simultaneously in Hindi under the title Abhay. While the film didn’t work commercially, it later received the status of a cult classic. It also won a National Award for Best Special Effects.
