Kamal: Conduct is the republic’s strength

Wishing all Indians a very happy Republic Day, actor, producer and Parliamentarian Kamal Haasan on Monday pointed out that as long as the Constitution lived in our conduct, the Republic would remain strong!

Taking to his X timeline to share his Republic day greeting, Kamal Haasan wrote, "The Indian Republic was born when our forefathers chose to throw off the imperial yoke and govern themselves through the Constitution."

He further said, "Its strength lies in respecting diversity, federalism, and the democratic spirit. As long as the Constitution lives in our conduct, the Republic remains strong. Happy #RepublicDay to all my fellow Indians."

The actor's greeting came on a day the nation celebrated its 77th Republic Day.

Earlier, Kamal Haasan heartily congratulated Malayalam superstar Mammootty for being a recipient of the prestigious Padma Bhushan Award.

The actor took to his X timeline to pen a lengthy, heartfelt post in Tamil congratulating Mammootty. He highlighted the fact that the prestigious Padma Bhushan award had been announced for his dear friend Mammootty.

Pointing out that they hadn't acted together in any films, Kamal Haasan said, "However, we have been admiring each other from afar. We critique each other when we meet in person. We have been nurturing a 'Kopperuncholayar Pisiranthaiyar' kind of friendship akin for several years."

He further went on to add that he now felt that maybe they both could have met in person more often.

Kamal Haasan went on to observe that as a Mammootty fan, his expectation was that his fans should also be Mammootty's fans.

"My friend Mammootty has now become Padma Bhushan Mammootty. Congratulations to my friend," he wrote.

For the unaware, the 'Kopperuncholayar Pisiranthaiyar' relationship that Kamal Haasan referred to in his post is about the iconic friendship between Chola King Kopperun Cholan and the Pandya poet Pisiranthaiyar.

Although the Chola King and the Pandya poet never met each other, they both trusted each other wholeheartedly to the extent that when the Chola king chose to die, he asked for a seat to be prepared for the poet from his enemy kingdom, trusting that his friend from the rival kingdom would definitely accompany him even unto death.

Despite several people telling the king that the poet would not come, the king firmly trusted his friend to turn up. As expected by the king, Pisiranthaiyar did arrive but by then, the king had passed away. Nevertheless, he too embraced death in the same fashion as adopted by the king.