The internet went viral last week with speculation that the first look of Kamal Haasan's Uttam Villan is 'inspired' by a photograph taken by French photographer Eric Lafforgue.

Speaking out on the allegation for the first time Kamalji pooh-poohs the plagiarism charge. `Theyyam is more than 1000 year old art. The make-up was done by a good artists who is probably a third-generation practitioner of this art. The lighting might have been similar.`

And then the maverick actor sniggers, ` It is like saying two lovers one leaning on another's chest looking in the same direction is a copy of the Ek Duje Ke Liye poster.

My film has a Theyyam dance fusion with Tamil Nadu ' s Kooththu tradition.`

Painting the face for that look was not easy.


Says the actor, `That is not a mask. It is painted on my face . It took 4 hours to paint my face. It is a tradition handed down from many generations. The artist claims he might be the 20th generation artists doing the same thing.`

Uttam Villan chronicles the life of a superstar who decides to make a period comedy called Uttam Villan.

Discloses Kamal Haasan, `There is a pun on the word 'villan'. ... Vil means 'bow' and villan means 'archer'. We have already an edited length of 18 minutes with 7 scenes in the hard disk. You can expect some stunning performances from all the actors.`