One of the biggest reasons why Tamil cinema is celebrated across the world is the lasting association, friendship and mutual respect shared between its two towering legends Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth. As the latter turns 73 on December 12, our very own Ulaganayagan took to his social media profiles to tweet his good wishes to his very 'dear friend'.
Kamal wrote in Tamil on his X account, which translates to: "Happy birthday to my dear friend Superstar @rajinikanth. I sincerely wish you to live a happy life reaping success today and forever."
Meanwhile, another video is gaining traction on X, where a younger Kamal is seen telling host/actor and politician Prakash Raj on a game show, about how Rajini was cast by filmmaker K Balachander in his debut role as the supporting character in the 1975 film Apoorva Raagangal.
For those who do not know, Rajini played Pandiyan in a supporting role while Kamal starred as the lead Prasanna.
In the video, Kamal says that Rajini, who was then a student at the Madras Film Institute impressed Balachander with his performance and his demeanour and that is what landed him the role. Before Rajini walked in for the audition, a seemingly irritated Balachander was getting impatient to shoot his film but was worried as an actor had not been finalised for the part of Pandiyan.
Watch the video below:
Another interesting fact that many do not know is that Rajinikanth, who is born as Shivaji Rao Gaekwad was rechristened with his new name by Balachander as he did not want any confusion with veteran legend Sivaji Ganesan. Also, Rajini, who primarily spoke Marathi and Kannada, did not know a word of Tamil. On Balachander's suggestion, Rajini started speaking to his colleague and apparently, learnt Tamil within 20 days.
KAMAL HAASAN AND RAJINIKANTH's FRIENDSHIP
Recently, fans of both actors were delighted to witness the two legends shooting for their respective upcoming films, Indian 2 and Thalaivar 170, at the same studio.
The production house Lyca Productions shared in a tweet, "The 2 unparalleled LEGENDS of Indian Cinema 'Ulaganayagan' @ikamalhaasan & 'Superstar' @rajinikanth sharing a lighter moment while shooting for their respective films Indian-2 & Thalaivar170 in the same studio after 21 years! And we @LycaProductions are super happy & proud to be producing both the films!"
While Haasan has Indian 2, directed by S. Shankar for release, he also has Kalki 2898 AD and Mani Ratnam's KH234, in hand. Meanwhile Rajini has TJ Gnanavel's Thalaivar 170, which also stars Amitabh Bachchan, Rana Daggubati, Fahadh Faasil, Manju Warrier, Ritika Singh and Dushara Vijayan.
