Kamal Haasan was so in love with Aparna Sen he named Rani Mukerji after her in Hey Ram, learnt Bengali to impress her

Kamal Haasan's 2000 film Hey Ram had an Aparna Sen connection that no one knew about. Read all about it.

Updated on: Aug 26, 2025, 19:01:20 IST

By Neeshita Nyayapati

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Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan’s 2000 film Hey Ram, which was made simultaneously in Tamil and Hindi, has an Aparna Sen connect that no one knows about. While promoting her recent film Coolie, Shruti Haasan revealed to Sathyaraj that her father learnt Bengali and even named Rani Mukerji’s character in the film after Aparna to impress her. Here’s what she said.

Rani Mukerji's character in Kamal Haasan's Hey Ram was named after Aparna Sen.

Kamal Haasan’s love for Aparna Sen

Shruti and Sathyaraj were discussing Kamal’s dedication to his craft when it came up that he learnt Bengali to do a film in the language. Sathyaraj also pointed out that, like her father, Shruti knew multiple languages. Revealing that it was not just that, Shruti stated that Kamal took up learning the language out of admiration for Aparna.

She said, “No, no. Do you know why he learnt Bengali? Because at that time, he was in love with Aparna Sen. He learnt Bengali to impress her, he did not learn it for films,” with a chuckle. Delving more, Shruti also mentioned that Kamal was so enamoured by her, he even named Rani after her in Hey Ram. “Even in Hey Ram, Rani Mukerji is named Aparna after her,” added Shruti.

About Aparna Sen

For the uninitiated, Aparna is an actor, director, and writer known for her work in Bengali cinema. She is also Konkona Sen Sharma’s mother and has nine National Film Awards to her credit. She is well-known for acting in films like Basanta Bilap (1973) and Memsaheb (1972), and directing 36 Chowringhee Lane (1981) and Goynar Baksho (2013).

Hey Ram was written, directed, produced and starred Kamal, apart from Shah Rukh Khan, Rani, Hema Malini, Vasundhara Das, Naseeruddin Shah and others. The film was controversial for its depiction of Gandhi and the events surrounding his death, but received critical acclaim. Kamal was last seen in Mani Ratnam’s Thug Life and Shankar's Indian 2.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeshita Nyayapati
Despite having a Master's degree in Journalism and over a decade of experience in print and digital media as a field reporter and sub-editor at organisations such as The Times of India and Reader's Digest, Neeshita Nyayapati remains a movie buff first and a Chief Content Producer second. She fell in love with movies in childhood and believes nothing matches the magic of watching a good film that moves you with a warm tub of popcorn in hand. Her love for writing about cinema follows that. Come Friday, you'll find her at her happy place, the movies, catching the latest rom-com or masala offering, for reviews or otherwise. As for the rest of the week, she's here reporting the juiciest news in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi or bringing out the best of celebs in interviews. While her niche is Telugu cinema, Neeshita likes to dabble in a little bit of everything to stay up to date. From film announcements to scandals and hard news angles, she has explored it all. A good book, a comforting cup of hot chocolate, puppy kisses and a stunning beach view are all she needs to unwind. Her passion for biking and travelling has taken her to various places across the country. She has found peace in everything from the frozen lakes of Gangtok to the coffee plantations of Coorg and the dense forests of Bandipur, to the monasteries of Darjeeling. But no matter where she goes, Neeshita loves coming across inspiring and moving stories.Read More

Kamal Haasan

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