Rajinikanth-versus-Vijay fan ‘war’ puts pan-India spotlight back on Tamil cinema

“After a point, I don’t talk. I only slash,” Superstar Rajinikanth delivers the line with characteristic elan in his new film Jailer, due for a 10 August release. The past few days have kept the spotlight trained on the matinee icon for some talking he did at the film’s audio launch that proved if push comes to slash, Tamil cinema’s Thalaivar has lost none of the vintage sheen.

For those who came in late here’s a gist of all that happened and its aftermath: Fans of Thalaivar and Thalapathy Vijay, Tamil cinema’s GenNow heartthrob, are at war following the audio launch, which has put national focus on two of Tamil cinema’s biggest contemporary names over the past few days. The normally reticent Rajinikanth narrated a story at the launch gala, about the crow being the most raucous of all birds and constantly trying to pull down other birds. Yet the crow never manages to reach the eagle, who glides far above all the commotion. “The social media might go on to compare and draw names on whom I called a crow. I request you not to do that as I have only spoken about what happens practically, and it is not directed at any person,” said Thalaivar, according to a News18 report. In the same speech, he mentioned reposing faith in director Nelson of Jailer despite the fact that the filmmaker’s earlier release Beast (incidentally, starring Vijay) seemed to have seen a mixed response.

The media and social media, of course, have not paid heed to Rajinikanth’s “request” because his mentioning of Vijay’s Beast inevitably invoked a bit of history. It all started at the audio launch of Thalapathy Vijay’s last release, Varisu, when his fans started addressing him as “Superstar”. Actor Sarath Kumar subsequently declared Vijay had indeed attained the Superstar stature. A social media war would soon start between the fans of Rajinikanth and Vijay, over who was entitled to wear the Superstar’s crown. The war would intensify over the past months, peaking lately as Rajinikanth readies to release Jailer and Vijay fans gear up for the Dussehra weekend release of their star’s upcoming film Leo on 19 October.

Not to be outdone in the game of swagger, Vijay, has stylishly played to the gallery in a promotional video of Leo, featuring the song Bloody Sweet. “I’m gonna take it away… hell yeah! / This is how I wanna play / This is how I’m gonna play,” the lyrics seem to make an ominous assertion to the beats of slow, haunting rock.

For pan-India audiences accustomed to seeing multiple actors simultaneously enjoy the superstar tag, it would perhaps seem perplexing that fan clubs of two immensely popular actors from different generations should fight over the label in the Tamil domain. No one, for instance, seems to mind if Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan are all hailed as superstars by fans of Bollywood films. Perhaps the word Superstar is synonymous to the label of ‘number one’ in Tamil cinema in some way. Or, perhaps the passion that drives star-fan equations down South are unique in the emotions that rule them, in a way few outsiders can fathom.

What is notable for outsider movie buffs is how the focus has perceptibly shifted on Tamil cinema over the past few weeks, whenever there is a mention of South Indian films. The Rajinikanth-Vijay controversy has actually benefitted the Tamil film industry by bringing it back in the purview of pan-India cine watchers.

For months now, with Bollywood struggling to draw audiences to the ’plexes, many pan-India desi hits have emerged from the South. If one were to be more specific, it is Telugu cinema that the all-India film trade has mostly looked at for profits during this phase, more than Tamil films. A fascination that started with SS Rajamouli’s Baahubali franchise a few years ago, peaked with the filmmaker’s 2022 release RRR seeing a blockbuster run at the pan-India box office. This, after the Allu Arjun-starrer Pushpa: The Rise — Part 01 struck gold across national multiplex chains in December 2021, when film business was still seeing a cautious return to normalcy after long-drawn lockdown. The RRR song Naatu Naatu would go on to win the Oscar in the Best Original Song category earlier this year, and soon it was being said the Telugu industry truly dominated film business at a pan-India level.

There were big Tamil films, too, during this time frame. Kamal Haasan starred in Vikram, director Lokesh Kanagaraj’s 2022 action thriller superhit that, preceded by the Karthi-starrer Kaithi (2019) and to be followed by the Vijay-starrer Leo, comprises what has been officially named LCU, or the Lokesh Cinematic Universe — a shared universe of films about cops and drug lords. Kanagaraj also directed Vijay in Master (2021), Beast (2022; released as Raw in Hindi) and Varisu (2023) during this phase. Ajith Kumar, Thala to his fans, had Thunivu this year and Valimai in 2022 while Suriya released Etharkkum Thunindhavan last year. Each of these films scored bullseye at the southern box office but somehow could not garner a Baahubali impact at the pan-India level.

In fact, the only Tamil venture to raise all-India interest in recent times has been Mani Rathnam’s historical magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan franchise, toplined by Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jayam Ravi, Karthi, Trisha, Aishwarya Lekshmi and Sobhita Dhulipala. At the pan-India box office, though, Mani Rathnam’s meticulously researched and executed franchise has seemed too niche, a cinematic marvel too detailed in its historical portrayals and conversations to find seamless connect with masses beyond Tamil Nadu.

Such a connect, however, is easily fostered by the ongoing ‘war’ between fans of Rajinikanth and Vijay, two of the most imposing cinematic icons anywhere in India and who, in an uncanny way, represent the socio-cultural trends of their respective generations in their home state. For 72-year-young Thalaivar, Jailer is important because the film’s success would underline that age is a challenge his popularity has managed to conquer. The hype is on already, with many offices declaring 10 August a holiday to let fans watch the film. The Superstar debate, meanwhile, won’t die down any time soon. For, at 49 and born almost a quarter century later, Thalapathy Vijay looks to set a few records of his own when Leo opens later this year.

Vinayak Chakravorty is a critic, columnist and journalist who loves to write on popular culture.