A क
  1. News
  2. Entertainment
  3. Meet India’s first pan-India star whose films reached the Oscars seven times

Meet India’s first pan-India star whose films reached the Oscars seven times

Written By: Sakshi Verma Edited By: Kamna Arora 
Published : Nov 07, 2025 8:57 IST, Updated : Nov 07, 2025 8:57 IST

Long before “pan-India cinema” was even a phrase, Kamal Haasan was living it, moving seamlessly between Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada films. With seven Oscar-submitted films, he remains the actor who carried Indian stories to the world.

Kamal Haasan Image Source : IMDB Do you know who is India’s first pan-India star?
New Delhi:

People think that after Baahubali 1 and 2 were released, the craze and format of a Pan-India star came to India. It may have become a trend after Prabhas' starrer release, but the first actor to have ever established a pan-India status in India it has to be Kamal Haasan.

Yes! It was Haasan, Rajinikanth and Sridevi, who successfully made their presence felt in different film industries. Moreover, Kamal Haasan is the only actor to have won Filmfare Awards in five different languages: Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi.

Complete list: Seven Kamal Haasan films that reached the Oscars

Kamal Haasan holds the record as the Indian actor with the highest number of films submitted by India for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (formerly Best Foreign Language Film). He has starred in a total of seven such official submissions.

The seven films starring Kamal Haasan that were submitted are:

  • Saagar (1985)
  • Swathi Muthyam (1986) (Telugu film)
  • Nayakan (1987)
  • Thevar Magan (1992)
  • Kuruthipunal (1995)
  • Indian (1996)
  • Hey Ram (2000, which he also directed) 

It is significant to note that none of these films ultimately secured a nomination in the final shortlist, though Nayakan was notably included in TIME magazine's 'All-Time 100 Movies' list. 

Another actor, Raghubir Yadav, has also been part of seven submitted films, but he was not in the lead role in all 7 movies.

Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth reunite for Thalaivar173

Both superstars, Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth, will be seen reuniting after several years. However, they may not be seen on the screen together, but will be seen collaborating in Thalaivar173. The film is being led by Rajinikanth and produced by Kamal Haasan. The Tamil film will release on the occasion of Pongal 2027 and is being directed by Sundar C.

Also Read: Thalaivar173: Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan team up for Sundar C’s next, releasing Pongal 2027