There was a time when Kamal Haasan and Rajnikanth, both great friends off-screen, would compete aggressively at the South Indian box office. While the healthy rivalry between the two continues, Haasan now says, the duo have slowed down due to budget constraints.
“Rajni and I used to release our films almost every Friday back in the 80s but not anymore. Today, we have slowed down, not because of our age, but because of budget constraints. We can’t afford to release our big budget films on the same day” Haasan told reports at the trailer launch of his digitally restored version of ’16 Vayathinile’ his 1977 classic.
The Bharathiraja directed film made on a budget of less than 5 lakhs, also featured superstar Rajnikanth in a negative role.
The director says “Kamal was paid just Rs 27,000 for the film. Rajni wanted Rs 5000, but I convinced him for Rs 3000 and eventually paid only Rs 2500. Budget was a big constraint for all of us back then.”
More than 35 years later, Kamal Haasan and Rajnikanth continue to be the biggest superstars in the Tamil film industry. The two legends are also the highest paid actors in India, with a pay-check in excess of Rs 25 crores.
While Hassan’s film Vishwaroopam released last year, Rajnikanth makes a grand return to the silver screen with his mega-budget film Kochadaiiyaan, which releases later this year.
Who’s your favourite star from the south Indian film industry? Rajnikanth or Kamal Haasan? Tell us in the comments section below.
Between these two i would prefer rajni as i have seen more of his movies than hassan.
And among new generation in telugu industry,my favs are
1.mahesh babu(tollywood actor,but looks great unlike others)
2.allu arjun(n’t a big star in telugu,bt too talented and a great dancer)
3.juniour NTR
I am a huge fan of allu arjun, only actor of south i love since his first hit aarya1, he is supremely talented and called as stylish star down south.
All the Rajni Fans—Thalaaivaa..
SRK is the Kamal Hassan of Bollywood and Salman Khan is the Rajnikant…
Only Rajnikanth movies works…..eventhough Kamal hassan is a senior actor but he has no crowd pull like rajnikanth… eg are Robot, chandramukhi etc vs kamal hassan vishwaroopam, Abhay etc…
Rajni has more style hence he is a great crowd puller down south… But when u consider entire south, Pawan kalyan(telugu), Mahesh Babu (Telugu) movies are so huge and clearly they are SRK, Salman down south…… Their movies crosses 100 crores easily even releasing in few theaters outside Andhra pradesh!!!!!!
Ram charan anyday ! great dancer!
Rajinikanth is a true superstar in every sense while Kamal Hassan is the best actor in India without any iota of doubt. Both are superstars and great actors. Rajnikanth wasted his talent for audience while Kamal Hassan loosed some audience for acting. In current generation Vijay is biggest star in tamil but my fav is Surya, Mahesh Babu is the biggest star in telugu but my fav is Prabhas, Dileep is the biggest star in malayalam and I think Puneet rajkumar is the biggest star in Kannada but not sure
Rajini
Suriya
Vikram
Raj kumar
Vijay
rajni is an actor fr the masses,bt kaamal hasan is the most talented actor cum filmmaker in india.
for sure kamal hassan …. no doubt. he is creative and tries new things with maximum risk and as far as rajnikanth is concerned he is just lucky ….. thats all
All the Khans must read this article and stop fighting among themselves.
kamai hassan= aamir khan they both do diffrent cinema and great actors in south i love allu arjun nd mahesh babu
Kamal Hassan the best actor in the world. He is the only actor to win 16 filmfares for best actor and that too in 4 different languages. This man is a genius.
There is no comparision between them when u consider it for acting. Mr. Kamala Hassan is way ahead of Rajni…. Super talented. Rajni is a good human being in real life, accepted, but in reel life, kamala hassan stands out, marvelous. and he has also prooved in bollywood. Sadma, Sagar, hey ram…
According 2 Me Both Are Gr8, But Somehow Rajni Has Become A Demi- God In Down South, Audience Dont Need Script From His Movies, They Just Want 2 See Him on Screen. He Has Also Become More Famous Than Kamal in Last 7-8 yrs in The Rest Of The Country, I Like Both, Specially Kamal For His Great Cinematic Sensibilities, Performance, Scripts, Bringing New Concept, Which is Less In Rajni’s Movies in Comparison, But That Does Not Mean That They Are Bad Either… In Short Rajni is Of Masses And Kamal is of Classes, But I Somehow Believe That Kamal’s Films Wud Win The TEST OF TIME, 50 yrs Later Kamal’s Movies Wud Be Remembered More Than Rajni Movie, And In Case Of Rajni, People Wud Give His Example That 50yrs Back There Used 2 Live A MEGASTAR Whose Movies Run Not Due To Scripts,Nor Director, Nor Music, Nor Hot Heroines, Nor Big Banners But Just For Him, Long Live Both….
Only Mahesh babu is real suparstar
Rajnikanth,Kamal,Chiranjeevi
-I,being a man from south india would love calling them as ‘OUR PRIDE’
Rajni sir-4 his mega heart,king of simplicity
Kamal-greatest actor indian cinema has ever produced
Chiru sir-King of style,king of dance,great human
Both r legends
@soroop dileep is one of the best actors in malayalam.mohanlal and mamooty are still considered as the best.
Rajnikanth is best as he is the massy and kamal is good only in acting but not superstardom like rajni.
Down south, before chiranjeevi in telugu now, pawan kalyan and mahesh are superstars. In bollywood Salman is rajnikant mega superstar. He is famous as rajni and his works in charity programmes same as rajni.
kamal haasan is better 19 filmfare awards #respect
sorry 24 filmfare awards (record)
Look guys there can be many Rajinikanths in future (Vijay in Kollywood , Pawan Kalyan in Tollywood) but there will be no more Kamal Haasan in Indian Cinema . Unarguably , The Greatest and the Finest Indian Actor of all time is the Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan .
kamal is a great actor no one can reach kamal.as per me rajanikanth is just lucky.i don’t see ranjanikanth action but just his graphical attitude.
late telugu actor sri nt rama rao (1923-1996) is best actor than kamal hasan.
His acting is father of all indian actor.
We pray his soul in peace
nt ramarao is greatest actor in 100 years of indian cinema. No doubt kamal hasan is next best actor.
There are some other legends also from south there like akkineni nageswara rao,sv rangarao(telugu),sivaji ganeshan,mgr.
late telugu actor sri nt rama rao garu (1923-1996) is best actor than kamal hasan.
Kamal haasan has set the benchmark for acting.. we can refer any character from the book of kamal haasan, wheras Rajni has mass appeal. Rajni can be remembered after 50 years bt kamal’s movies would speak about him.. his acting skills will be set as a target for the next generation