Kamal Haasan is set to reunite with Rajinikanth in a film after a long time and is also going to produce one of the superstar's upcoming films, directed by Cibi Chakaravarthi of Don fame. However, once, there was much discourse about the supposed rivalry between the two actors. In an old interview with Star Plus, Kamal set the record straight. He said, "It is not rivalry. We are both from the same camp." The actor said that market forces and the audience created this narrative about him and Rajinikanth being rivals. "We played along because you need two goals to make the match interesting," Kamal said at the time.
Kamal also revealed that he discouraged Rajinikanth from taking retirement because he himself was not prepared to do it. "Otherwise, they would say, 'The game is over. These two belong to an era; wipe them out'. So I keep telling him, 'Don't leave, even if you want to,'" Kamal stated about the narrative around them.
The actor also confirmed his longtime friendship with the superstar. He also weighed in on the narrative about how the industry described him as the more intellectual out of the two and Rajinikanth as the 'bus conductor turned actor'. Kamal said that it was not his or Rajinikanth's choice to have such labels. "We both have come from the bottoms. There is a similarity between us. I am a high-school dropout, and he is four standards more than me as far as education goes. He finished his SSLC I think," Kamal revealed.
Kamal noted how he and Rajinikanth appeared separately in films that ran in theatres for 25 weeks and became 'silver jubilee' hits. He also underscored their decision to carve out distinctive paths for each of them in cinema—one that paid rich dividends for both of them.
