The year 1979 is a momentous one for fans of Tamil cinema because that was when the two biggest superstars — Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan — last starred in a film together.


And now, during the re-release of that film — Ninaithale Inikkum — it is its director, K Balachander who is over the moon. “I miss Rajini in this moment,” the filmmaker said on the occasion of the trailer launch yesterday. About Kamal, he said, “I don’t know if he (Kamal) grew because of me or if I grew because of him. But at the end of the day, I’m the winner because it’s my film that’s re-released after so many years.”

Going down memory lane, Kamal said, “It was just after the shoot of the Engeyum Eppodhum song that Rajini and I decided that we will go our own ways and not act together.” Both the superstars have maintained that it doesn’t make financial sense for anybody to cast them together in the present-day context.
Meanwhile, Ulaganayagan to get Lifetime Achievement Award

The actor will be conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Mumbai Film Festival that will begin on October 17. In a statement, Shyam Benegal, chairman of Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI), said that Kamal is a ‘legend in every sense of the term’. “He is a writer, singer, director, lyricist and an actor par excellence.

We are extremely honoured to present the Lifetime Achievement Award to Kamal Haasan,” Benegal added. Other than the Viswaroopam star, acclaimed French filmmaker Costa-Gavras will also be conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award on the occasion.