The Rajini-Akshay Bonhomie Is Not What It Seems

Don’t let all those amicable  photo and videos of  the two 2: 0 superstars  fool you. Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar   don’t really like each  other as  much as their marketing team  would like us to believe.

A  source  very close  to the project says, “Akshay Sir was  very respectful  of Rajini Sir  throughout the  shooting. But there was always a sense  of competitiveness .Whenever Rajini sir’s role  was  highlighted  and  played up  beyond what was  in the script, Akshay sir very gently steered  the  plot back on the  track.”

 The source  informs that  there  was also an attempt to swing the film’s climax away from Akshay.The attempt was  effectually thwarted.

Says  the  source, “Akshay knew  his character  would lose the fight  in the climax, Villains  don’t win in our cinema.  But this is no  ordinary villain. In fact if  the truth be told Akshay’s  character  is not really negative. He  plays an entity fighting forces that are destroying Nature. He  is  a greenpeace hero disguised  as a prothestic-propelled  villain.  Therefore Rajini can’t humble his adversary  in 2: 0 as  he does in all his films. Akshay made sure there was no tweaking of  the climax.”

The source also informs that Akshay’s team objected to Rajinikant’s name being prefixed with  ‘Superstar’ in the credit titles while Akshay’s name in the credits has  no such embellishments.

There was some argument over this. But Akshay gracefully let the ‘Superstar’ be before Rajini Sir’s name. But I doubt Akshay will  ever want to work with  Rajini ,  or for that matter Kamal Haasan again. These are actors known to hog footage even at the cost of the biggest of co-stars who agree to come on board out of  respect for the  two Tamil icons, only to be relegated  to a supporting  status.