Kamal debuted in Bollywood with Balachander's "Ek Duuje Ke Liye" (1981), which was a remake of his 1978 Telugu film "Maro Charitra". His role as a school teacher who looks after an amnesic girl in "Moondram Pirai" (1982) won him several accolades, including the Best Actor honours at the National Film Awards and Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. His work in Ramesh Sippy's Hindi film "Saagar" (1985), a triangular love story, was nominated in both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor categories at the 33rd Filmfare Awards. Under Raaj Kamal Films International, he produced films such as: "Vikram" (1986), "Apoorva Sagodharargal" (1989), "Thevar Magan" (1992) and "Hey Ram" (2000). As a producer he won a Filmfare Award and National Film Award for "Apoorva Sagodharargal" and "Thevar Magan". Seven films featuring Kamal have been submitted by India to the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, the most for any actor in India. In 2009, he became one of the few actors in India to have completed 50 years working in cinema. His work "Vishwaroopam" (2013), which he also produced and directed, won two awards at the 60th National Film Awards.