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50 Years of Superstar Rajinikanth: The Friendship That Shaped a Legend

Naman Ramachandran on the bond, generosity, and artistic kinship that helped define Rajinikanth’s rise.

Team OTTplay
Nov 19, 2025
We made our way up together, says Kamal Haasan of Rajinikanth.
EDITOR'S NOTE: As part of OTTplay’s tribute to Rajinikanth’s 50 years in cinema we turn to the relationships and artistic kinships that shaped his rise. Few bonds in Indian cinema are as storied, as generous, or as quietly influential as the one between Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan — a friendship built not on rivalry, but on respect, mentorship, and artistic instinct. In this excerpt from Rajinikanth: The Definitive Biography by Naman Ramachandran, the Superstar reflects with disarming honesty on those early years: the roles that opened doors, the advice that shaped his path, and the grace with which both actors navigated fame in parallel. It offers a rare look at the warmth, humility, and intelligence that defined Rajinikanth long before he became an icon. Republished here with permission from Penguin Random House India. ***
‘IN THE BEGINNING in 1975, just how big a star Kamal Haasan was, today’s generation does not know,’ says Rajinikanth. ‘He was an even bigger star in 1975 than he is now. Old or young, a new artiste had never shaken all of India like he did. I had just entered the cinema industry then. Apoorva Raagangal, Moondru Mudichu, Avargal, these were all my guru K Balachander’s films—I became a hero with these three films. After that the films that came, big films like 16 Vayathinile, Ilamai Oonjal Aadukirathu, Aadu Puli Attam, Aval Appadithan—these were all hit films. For those films, if Kamal had said, “Don’t cast Rajini”, nobody would have taken me. I got Ilamai Oonjal Aadukirathu solely on Kamal’s recommendation. So I acted in all these films and then, after I became a big actor, one day Kamal called me and said, “Rajini, only if you act alone will you get your own space. If you say no, the cinema world will use us, and you won’t be able to grow.” I listened to all that he said. ALSO READ | 50 Years of Superstar Rajinikanth: In the Beginning, There Was Shivaji
After that I worked on my own. Then, after I became a big man, Kamal called me again one day and said, “Rajini, you have to be cautious in Tamil cinema. I have seen from a young age—MGR and Sivaji, though they had no rivalry between them, the cinema industry separated them. And because the industry separated them, their fans also separated. That shouldn’t happen with us. The producers and directors I work with, you should work with them too.” I don’t know how to thank him.’Rajinikanth adds, ‘In other industries, people like Mammootty, Mohan Lal, Venkatesh, Chiranjeevi, Amitabh Bachchan and even Dilip Kumar look at me and are amazed how I managed to make a name for myself as an actor in an industry where Kamal Haasan exists. The reason is simple. I grew as an actor just by watching Kamal Haasan acting. I had the good fortune of being able to observe Kamal Haasan from close quarters. During the shooting of Avargal I was sitting outside when K Balachander noticed this and got angry. He sent word for me to return to the set and asked me, “Did you go outside to smoke? Kamal is acting; observe him. Only then will your acting get even better.” From that time, when Kamal acted I wouldn’t go anywhere; I would just sit there and watch. This is the honest truth.’‘The fact that I made a name in an industry where Kamal exists is nothing great,’ says Rajinikanth. ‘All I did was change my route. I didn’t go down his route. Whatever he touched, I didn’t. If I had tried to do what he did, that would have been it for me. I just used my intelligence, that’s all.’
Rajinikanth is fulsome in his praise for Kamal Haasan. ‘He is truly a master of all the arts,’ he says. ‘But everything has a reason and I decided to find out why. There is a bit of the arts in everyone and the goddess of the arts endows some people with extra gifts and leads them by the hand. People like me, Mammootty, Mohan Lal, Venkatesh and Amitabh Bachchan are amongst those who the goddess has chosen to lead by the hand. But the goddess has picked up Kamal and cradled him in her arms and clasped him to her bosom. I asked her, “Is this fair? You are holding Kamal close to you, but all of us are also your children, we should be equal in your eyes.” The goddess replied, “Rajini, you wanted to be an actor and struggled to become one from your last life; but Kamal has desired to be an actor for ten lifetimes. Can I put him down?” I told her, “No, goddess, let him stay where he is.” Kamal is truly the favourite child of the goddess of the arts. I am proud that my name will also go down in history as somebody who had acted with him.’
Watch these Rajini-Kamal films here!
Kamal Haasan is equally appreciative of Rajinikanth. In response to his praise, Haasan says, ‘Who will speak like that? In our generation, there haven’t been friends like Rajini and I. He could have just said a few words of praise and gone away—and there was no need to say anything placing himself beneath me while praising me. But he did.’ OTTplay delivers the Rajinikanth Times right to your screens. Stream now!
This friendship wasn’t very evident, though, to audiences in the late ’70s and early ’80s. They wanted to focus on one star or the other and created fan clubs that were mutually exclusive. These clubs would often be at war, especially when a Rajinikanth and a Kamal Haasan film would release on the same day. The squabbling between the fan clubs ended only in the early ’90s. ‘We both told them to stop after there were stray incidents of violence on both sides,’ says Haasan. In all, Haasan and Rajinikanth have appeared together in some eighteen films so far. The chances of them uniting again seem remote, given the economics of such a project. Haasan says, ‘If you have Rajini and me on board, the sky is the limit to how much you can sell a film for.’ But he feels that once both actors are paid their fees, there wouldn’t be much of a budget left to make the film. If such a project were to come into being, there would also be the small matter of pressure from two diverse sets of fans across the world. ‘We’re worried about the expectations,’ admits Haasan.
Haasan says that his and Rajinikanth’s journeys are curiously similar and intertwined. They both started from scratch, though Haasan had a head start thanks to his having been a child actor. Both didn’t have fathers to make films for them, but shared a godfather in the form of K. Balachander. Like Rajinikanth, Haasan too played his share of negative roles. Tired of playing those, Haasan went to Kerala and did several Malayalam films. When he returned to Madras, Rajinikanth was making his mark in villainous roles. ‘We made our way up together,’ he says.Haasan also recalls that when both actors were in their twenties, he’d asked Rajinikanth why he was so stylised on screen. Rajinikanth’s reply was that style would be the secret to his future success. Haasan assured him that his own style too would be a winner. And both were right. Now explore the many shades of Rajinikanth, only on OTTplay!

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