The teaser of Kamal Haasan’s next film Uttama Villain is already out and garnering a lot of attention in the online space. However, as is the case with most films of the Ulaganayagan, a controversy has broken out over the actor’s fully-painted look that has been unveiled with the teaser.

The internet world is abuzz that his look has been ‘inspired’ by a photograph taken by French photographer Eric Lafforgue that depicts the Theeyam art form from Kerala. It’s unclear if the actor has sought permission to use it as the look of his film.

This isn’t the first time that Kamal is at the centre of a raging debate for his ‘inspiration’ for material for his films.

One of the looks from his last film, Vishwaroopam, featured the actor dressed in a hood — something very similar to Tom Cruise’s look in Mission Impossible 4. His 2003 Tamil film, Anbe Sivam, which featured the Ulaganayagan and Madhavan, had the two actors in animated conversation, somewhat similar to the 1987 movie titled Planes, Trains and Automobiles, which also, interestingly, had a storyline similar to the Tamil film.