Did Rajinikanth Panic When His 1987 Film Manithan Clashed With Kamal Haasan's Nayakan?

Rajinikanth is one of the biggest superstars in Indian cinema. The actor has had an illustrious career spanning decades. He has been a part of many films across different languages. People have showered a lot of love on him. Rajinikanth, popularly known as Thalaivar, has a fan following that is not just limited to South India. He is popular in the rest of the country as well. He was last seen in an important role in his daughter’s directorial, Lal Salaam. Over the years, the actor has had various clashes at the box office with many other actors. One such clash with Kamal Haasan’s Nayakan in 1987 made him quite nervous.

The year 1987 saw the clash of two of the biggest superstars in the Tamil film industry. In that year, Rajinikanth’s Manithan and Kamal Haasan’s Nayakan were released on the same day. There was a lot of anticipation at that time, and fans were looking forward to the clash. Both films were extremely different from each other, with Manithan being an all-commercial film, while Kamal Haasan’s Nayakan was a more critically acclaimed film.

As per reports, it was found that Rajinikanth was quite nervous before the film. Reportedly, he had called popular writer and friend Panchu Arunachalam at his home and talked about the clash. He expressed his concern regarding the clash and revealed that he was quite anxious about the reception of the film. At that time, Panchu Arunachalam made him understand that two films are completely different from each other and asked him to remain positive.

Upon their release, both films got a great response from the audience. Eventually, Rajinikanth’s Manithan went on to become a bigger commercial success than Nayakan, but Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam’s film garnered a lot of love for its storyline.

Talking about Rajinikanth films in recent times, he enjoyed a lot of success with Jailer. The film was a huge commercial success. After that, he was seen in Aishwarya Rajinikanth’s Lal Salaam. The actor is currently shooting for his next film, Vettaiyan, directed by TJ Gnanavel. Apart from that, the superstar has also signed a film with Lokesh Kanagaraj.