Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan fans indulge in social media slugfest over latter's remarks at DMK event

Social media is flooded with Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan fans hitting out at each other over remarks made by the latter in Murasoli event on Thursday.

Fans of Tamil superstars Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan are slamming each other on social media following remarks made by the latter on Thursday on the occasion of DMK mouthpiece Murasoli's 75th anniversary.

While the duo has come together even on earlier occasions, the setting and political atmosphere this time was quite different. At a time when speculations are doing the rounds of Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan possibly foraying into politics, the two stars did not share the stage at the DMK's mega event. When Kamal Haasan was speaking on the stage, Rajinikanth remained seated among the audience in the front row. According to sources, DMK had made many attempts to get Rajinikanth to speak at the event but he refused to do so, fearing that his opinions could be given a political colour.

Sources have told India Today that Rajinikanth might launch his own party, which could possibly align with the BJP.

FELT I WAS BEING EXPLOITED BY POLITICAL PARTIES: RAJINIKANTH

However, Rajinikanth had only recently pointed out while interacting with his fans that he felt he was being exploited by political parties. He indirectly suggested that he had supported the DMK alliance in 1996 that swept the assembly elections then.

On Murasoli event, despite being requested multiple times, Rajinikanth decided to remain seated in the front row and went to the stage only to receive the memento.

Meanwhile, in the last couple of months, Kamal Haasan had been making various statements against the ruling AIADMK government. Recently, MK Stalin lauded him for exposing the corruption in the Tamil Nadu government. While Haasan has been speaking about a revolution, he is yet to make his political intentions clear.

When Haasan got on to the stage, he said, "I was told that Rajinikanth would come to the function but not speak. I was also a bit hesitant. Later, I understood the importance of the event and decided to speak. Self-respect is more important than self-defence."

The minute Haasan finished saying this, a social media war broke out between his and Rajinikanth's fans. Prior to this, fans of these actors had clashed many years ago. But these fans later calmed down after an open declaration of deep friendship between the two.

On Thursday night, Rajinikanth fans pulled out an old picture of the superstar, applauding a brave statement by another star Ajith Kumar at the felicitation event of then chief minister M. Karunanidhi in 2010. Ajith had said that actors should not be forced to participate in political or social events. Rajinikanth fans shared the picture, showing him giving a standing ovation to Ajith as Kamal Haasan sat in the front row with folded hands. A Thalaiva fan asked, "What happened to Kamal Haasan's self-respect then."

HOW RAJINIKANTH AND KAMAL HAASAN FIRST CAME INTO LIMELIGHT

Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan came into limelight through the efforts of their Guru K. Balachander. Rajinikanth's first movie was "Aboorva Raagangal" which had Kamal Haasan as the lead. The duo has acted in many movies together, of which Moondru Mudichu and Pathinaru Vayathinile are the most famous in which Rajinikanth acted as a villain while Kamal Haasan played the hero. As the two actors carved a niche of their own over the years, the two decided not to act together.

Political analyst G C Segar says, "They will never attack each other. When Kamal was felicitated for completing fifty years, he said that he and Rajinikanth shared a deep friendship, which is a rarity in cinema. Although both actors have stayed away from attacking each other, fans could have perhaps read too much into the sequence of events regarding the two of late or further developments could unfold in the days to come.

Actor and political analyst Kasthuri Shankar says, "Kamal Haasan is too esoteric for me to comment. The only thing that can be said without doubt is he is making us all wonder what is going on."

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