3 min readHyderabadMay 5, 2026 08:16 AM IST
Some lessons stay with you not because they ended well, but because they began beautifully. For Trisha Krishnan, Marmayogi is exactly that kind of story. A film that never made it to theatres, never completed its shoot, and yet sits in her memory with more clarity than projects she has actually finished and moved on from.
In an old conversation with Galatta Plus, Trisha recalled the Marmayogi days “crystal clear.” Even now, every time she crosses paths with Kamal Haasan after a gap, her first question to him is about Marmayogi. Not out of frustration that it did not happen. Out of something closer to fondness for a time she clearly does not want to forget.
Marmayogi was announced as Kamal Haasan’s directorial project following the completion of Dasavathaaram in 2008. The film was conceived as a bilingual Hindi-Tamil period drama set in the 7th century, and by all accounts, it was being built on an enormous scale. The cast included names like Mohanlal, Venkatesh, Hema Malini, Shriya Saran and Sushmita Sen, and a photoshoot was held at AVM Studios in August 2008 with Trisha and Venkatesh among those present.
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What followed, however, was not a film. Co-producer Pyramid Saimira ran into severe financial trouble and walked away from the project in November 2008, pulling the plug on a production that was estimated to cost close to Rs 100 crore and take two years to complete. Kamal Haasan later made clear that he had given a full year to Marmayogi, gone through detailed preparations, had sets constructed and even completed portions of the shoot before the money dried up.
Trisha’s role in Marmayogi
For Trisha, none of that preparation felt wasted. She learned archery for the role. She trained in horse riding. The team went through long rehearsals, and there was a photoshoot she still speaks about with visible warmth. But more than the physical skills, it was the time spent understanding Kamal Haasan as a creative person that left the deepest impression.
“That was when I got to know him as an actor, as a mentor, as a friend,” she said, adding, “We had done so much.”
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Trisha found a simple but quietly moving way to describe the whole experience. “Maybe it’s a summer school that I went to and got trained by Kamal and got out of.” There is no self-pity in the way she says it. Just a clear-eyed recognition that the experience gave her something real, even if it never gave audiences anything to watch.
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That foundation did not disappear when the project was shelved. When she went on to work with Kamal Haasan in Manmadan Ambu, a comedy and a world apart from the 7th century setting of Marmayogi, she walked in carrying everything that earlier chapter had built.
As for whether Marmayogi will ever be made, Trisha is careful not to put any weight on it. “I will not even say I hope sir makes the film,” she said.
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