Mumbai, Apr 3 (IANS): Kamal Haasan watched his actress daughter Shruti's new film "3" and says he was elated after realising she looked like him in the film and that he was so enamoured by her performance that he hugged her.

"It was most considerate of Mr Dhanush. He quietly left the theatre. For the first time in her career, I hugged my daughter after watching her performance. Besides her performance what really thrilled me to bits is that Shruti looks like me in the film. So far everyone thinks she only looks like her mother (actress Sarika)," Kamal said from Los Angeles.

He admits he has offered tips to improve the products and added: "Again I've never done this before. But then this is a very special film."

Last week just before Kamal flew out of Chennai to Los Angeles to supervise the sound-mixing for his new film "Vishwaroop", Dhanush arranged a very special screening of the much-awaited Tamil-Hindi film "3".

"I was supposed to fly out to LA for unavoidable post-production work. Mr. Dhanush was kind and generous enough to arrange a special screening for me in Chennai. It was just me, Mr. Dhanush and my daughter in the theatre. We didn't have the comfort of a crowd in the auditorium to buffer our real emotions. I felt emotionally naked. I've never been a demonstrative father. But when I saw my daughter's performance in '3', I knew my little girl had finally come into her own as an actress," said Kamal.

It was important for Dhanush for Kamal to watch the film, not only because it's a crucial release for his daughter Shruti, but also because Dhanush wanted tips on improving the quality of the product.

Apparently Kamal's suggestions would now be incorporated in the Hindi version of "3" when it releases in May. One of the is that Dhanush should completely do away with the South Indian flavour for the Hindi version of "3".

We also hear that Dhanush, who has been working overtime on the Hindi dubbing of "3" at the Yash Raj dubbing studio, might decide to get his voice done by a dubbing artiste.

Dhanush said: "Kamal Sir saw our film. He isn't someone who says too much. But from his reactions I think he liked our film.

" '3' is a performance-oriented film and I was nervous about one of our finest actors was watching it. I believed in Shruti's performance. I knew Kamal sir would be one proud dad. So I gave them space. I left them alone, as any sensitive outsider would."