Rajinikanth’s love-hate relationship with Kamal Haasan

On-screen they have always been arch-rivals. Their respective fan(g) clubs have been at each other’s throats from the time they both made their debut in Tamil cinema in the earlier 1970s, although both swear they share nothing but mutual respect in real life.

Rajinikanth‘s adviser and closest archrival is Kamal Haasan. Rajinikanth has always considered Kamal Haasan his biggest rival and closest friend. They may swear to be friends the fact is there has always been an undisclosed subtext of antagonism between them ever since Rajini played villain to Kamal’s hero in his debut film Apoorva Raagangal which remade unsuccessfully in Hindi as Ek Nayi Paheli with Kamal Haasan and Rajkumar replacing Rajini.

Although Rajini soon became a leading man and an iconic superstar, he never go over the fact that he was a villain in a Kamal starrer when he started out. Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth have done ten films together, most of them hits. They have done three films for their mutual mentor K. Balachander.

Kamal Haasan once told me, “I’ve done guest roles in Rajini’s films. I’d do anything he asks me to, no question of refusing him.”

The war between the two fan clubs stopped twenty years ago. Both Rajini and Kamal told them to stop after there were stray incidents of violence on both sides. Before Rajini and Kamal, fans killed each other for MGR and Sivaji Ganesan.

அன்பு நண்பர் சூப்பர் ஸ்டார் @rajinikanth அவர்களுக்கு மனமார்ந்த பிறந்தநாள் வாழ்த்துகள். உங்கள் வெற்றிப் பயணம் தொடர இச்சிறந்த நாளில் வாழ்த்துகிறேன்.

— Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) December 12, 2022

When Rajini was in his 20s he decided stylized acting was his future. Both Kamal and Rajini started from scratch. Rajini was a bus conductor with acting aspirations. Kamal was the clapper boy who craved for the claps. They didn’t have fathers to make movies for them. But they had the same godfather K. Balachander.

Initially, they were both typecast as villains. Kamal got fed up of playing villains and went away to Kerala to do Malayalam films. When Rajinikanth’s career as a villain took off, Kamal returned to Chennai to pursue a career in Tamil cinema. They made their way up together. Although Rajini is four years senior to Kamal, Rajini is senior professionally.

For years fans have been agog to see them together. If there’s an occasion for Kamal and Rajini to star together Rajini says he won’t direct it. It has to be either Kamal or someone else.

Rajnikanth once at an event recalled an incident early in their careers when he was riding pillion on a mo’bike with Kamal Haasan. When the bike skidded Rajni asked Kamal if he actually knew how to ride a mo’bike. Kamal assured him that even If he fell he wouldn’t let Rajini fall. Recalling this incident Rajni said, ‘That’s what happened in our career. He never let me fall. In 1983 when I wanted to leave everything behind it was Kamal who cajoled me back to the material world. I guess we’ll do a film together. We’ve been talking about it for years. We’re worried about the expectations.”

We are worried about this combination never happening.

Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based journalist. He has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out.

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