Kamal is a single parent, leading a contented life with his children by the banks of the Mahanadhi. Enter a city slicker who sells him a dream, makes him start a chit fund after selling his land etc, and vamooses. Kamal goes to jail, in the meantime his family splinters, daughter gets sold to a brothel in Kolkata, son joins the gypsies. It becomes a vendetta tale towards the end, yes, but watch Kamal rescue his daughter from the eunuchs in Sonagachi, cross your heart and say he cannot act, and I will do anything you want. If that scene doesn't move you, I suggest you have your heart checked; it must be made of stone.

Kalyana Raman (1979)

We knew Kamal learnt the mridangam for Apoorva Raagangal. We knew he learnt to play the harmonica for Moondru Mudichu. In Kalyana Raman he plays a bucktoothed village idiot who gets bumped off by his relatives, returns as a ghost in his long-lost brother's body and exacts revenge, a comic caper with a bit of drama thrown in. But no, Kamal did not grow a bucktooth for this film.