Kamal Haasan calls himself oldest Gen Z as he completes 67 years in films: ‘I can claim 20 years as actual learning’

Kamal Haasan penned a note for his fans as he completed 67-year-long journey in cinema.

Kamal Haasan is often considered one of the best actors of his generation. The veteran actor has worked in several languages and won multiple awards over the course of his decades-long career. He made his acting debut in 1960 as a child artist in the Tamil film Kalathur Kannamma. Kamal has now completed 67 years in the film industry.

What Kamal shared

Kamal Haasan spoke about the years he thinks has gone to wastewater. (AFP)

The actor took to his X account to mark the occasion and share his thoughts. He wrote, “Thanks to all who wished me well on my 67 years of cinema. Out of those 67, I think I can only salvage about 20 years as my actual learning. The rest was going with the flow of the wastewater. The uplifting hope is, however dark the waterway turns out to be, the wait for a confluence with the largest singular form called the collective cinema, an unchannelled sea. We are all flowing towards it - artists, audience, and all. So I guess what I have salvaged as experience can be improved upon before people stop counting my years in this field and start looking for better numbers elsewhere.”

‘I can claim only about 20 years as actual learning’

Last seen in the 2025 Mani Ratnam film Thug Life, Kamal has a film with Rajinikanth lined up, directed by Nelson Dilipkumar. Both Rajinikanth and Kamal have been teasing their collaboration since before the release of the former’s Lokesh Kanagaraj film Coolie in 2025. He also has a film with the fight-master duo Anbariv.

Kamal is also shooting for the sequel to Kalki 2898 AD. Nag Ashwin’s 2024 sci-fi film starred Kamal Haasan as the antagonist. The film, which also stars Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, and Deepika Padukone, is one of the highest-grossing Telugu films. It recently won two National Awards.

Meanwhile, Kamal went to the US in 2024 to start a 90-day AI course, of which he reportedly attended 45 days due to work commitments. He told India Today in 2025 that once he joined the course, he felt the technology was ‘beyond all of us’. He said, “I went to the US with the intention of learning AI. But, it's beyond me and beyond all of us. I feel we shouldn't touch it without proper understanding. When it comes to cinema visuals, it's at a nascent stage. It's a broad spectrum. AI will be there in your life, my life and everyone else's. It's like our computer. That's how I think. We should not feel threatened by AI.”