Leading south Indian actor Kamal Hassan, who had begun his career with Malayalam movies, will be honoured by the Kerala Tourism department on completing 50 years in cinema, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported today.

Various organisations of the Malayalam film industry have extended support to the programme to honour the actor during the inauguration of the ‘ Onam ’ (Malayalee festival) week celebrations on Aug 22, official sources in Thiruvananthapuram said.

A two-hour cultural programme featuring versatality of the actor who had done roles in Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi in his five-decade long career would be held as part of the event in the south Indian state of Kerala.

The actor, who had won four national awards and several other honours during his career, would be honoured by a host of programmes to be directed by noted Malayalam film-maker T K Rajeev Kumar.

A meeting attended by representatives of Film Exhibitors Association, Film Exhibitors Federation, State Film Producers Association, Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) and Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce held in Thiruvananthapuram yesterday offered support to the event, sources said.

Eminent directors K S Sethumadhavan, who gave Hassan his big break in Kannum Karalum , Tamil director K Balachander and other top film-makers associated with the actor are expected to attend the programme.    

- Bernama