Tamil actor and legend Kamal Haasan was caught off guard and trolled on Twitter for his low understanding of caste system. A 2014 video of the actor’s daughter Shruti Haasan saying she is Iyengar resurfaced online after the Kamal answered a query saying that he refused to fill the caste and religion column in his daughter’s school admission forms.
According to several media reports, Kamal was answering a query on Twitter by a user who asked about how he would take caste to the next generation and if it would be optional in schools. The Makkal Needhi Maiam founder-president apart from giving the example of his daughters' admissions said that it is only when it is excluded in school forms that it will be taken to the next generation and every individual should start contributing towards progress. He also mentioned that Kerala has started it and people who do it should be celebrated.
However, Twitterati did not take it lightly and dug up the video interview of Shruti Haasan on the chat show Look who's talking with Niranjan. The actress who on being asked why she referred to host Niranjan Iyengar as Aambalaiyaan, she said it was because he was Iyengar and she too was Iyengar and creative people like them will never get married. Kamal was accused of double standards and many users even went on to point out different instances.
Interestingly, one of the references made by political observer 'Tharasu' Shyam said that Haasan's 1992 film Thevar Magan which shows the actor promoting caste identity through his films. Many other users also went on to say that Kamal Haasan had not even stopped using caste names in his films and under-production venture Sabash Naidu, is one of the many examples.