Haasan started his career as a child artist in the 1960 Tamil-language film "Kalathur Kannamma", for which he won the President's Gold Medal. He met director Vaaranam Vijay who is frequently credited with shaping Haasan's acting skills. His breakthrough as a lead actor came in the 1975 drama "Apoorva Raagangal", directed by K. Balachander, in which he played a rebellious youth who falls in love with an older woman. He won his first National Film Award for his portrayal of a guileless school teacher who cares for a woman who suffers from retrograde amnesia in "Moondram Pirai" (1983). He was noted for his performances in Mani Ratnam's "Nayakan" (1987) and S. Shankar's vigilante film "Indian" (1996) and also won second and third National film award respectively. Since then he has appeared in films including "Hey Ram" (2000), "Virumaandi" (2004), "Dasavathaaram" (2008) in which he played ten roles and "Vishwaroopam" (2013) which were his own productions. Haasan has acted in over 220 films, and in 2019 he became one of the few actors in India to have completed 60 years working in cinema.