Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 1 (IANS): Legendary actor Kamal Hassan on Wednesday said Kerala will always hold a special place in his heart.

"Kerala is a special place for me as the people here have embraced me as an artiste and also as a people's representative. It has helped me learn a lot of lessons," said the multilingual actor who was a special guest for Keralayeem (the week-long celebrations in the state capital city marking the 67th formation day) that was kicked off by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan here this morning.

"At the age of seven, I made my film debut and since then Kerala has always given me a lot and I have tried to emulate everything that I learned from here. After turning 21, I acted in Malayalam film 'Madanolsavam' partnering with versatile artistes like director Shankaran Nair and music director Salil Chowdhury," recalled the maestro.

"The next time I got back to Kerala was in 2017 when I decided to enter politics and took advice from Chief Minister Vijayan. Kerala has led the rest of the country when it comes to decentralisation which was started in 1996 through the People’s Plan, which I always look upon when dealing with the local bodies in Tamil Nadu," added the actor.

Vijayan should continue to lead from the front and take Kerala to newer heights and make the state into a knowledge economy, he said.

Notably, it was on this day 67 years back that Kerala came into being.

Keralayeem will see over 4,000 artistes taking part in a cultural blitz. As many as 25 international seminars would be held with leading experts from India and abroad besides ten exhibitions showcasing the achievements of Kerala with the help of modern technology.