The late Seventies was the period when MG Ramachandran had almost retired from Kollywood and ventured into politics. And thespians like Sivaji Ganesan and Gemini Ganesan had, by then, already ruled the screen for well over two decades. The silver screen at that time was being lit up by the raw talent of two young actors, who showed the spark needed to rule the Tamil film industry.

“Starring Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth” was common to the casting of many a movie during the period, many of them directed by their mentor K Balachander. But a few films later, the two actors made a pact that surprised many who were privy to the decision. Kamal and Rajini decided not to do any movie with each other.

The reason was that Kamal felt Rajini had the potential to be a leading man whereas, with Kamal in the lead in any movie, the bus conductor-turned-actor was getting typecast as the stylish villain. Years later, with Rajini metamorphosing into the superstar and Kamal excelling in roles that made him the thinking man’s actor, it was impossible to cast the two superstars of Tamil cinema in the same frame. Kamal would tell me during an interview in 2007 that if Rajini and he were to take their respective remuneration, there would be very less left on the table to shoot the movie with. They had also decided that should they ever share screen space together, the film will be produced by either of the two actors.

Their paths crossed in strange ways. Enthiran (Robot in Hindi) was originally planned by Shankar with Kamal Haasan but the film did not proceed beyond the initial photoshoot. Shankar subsequently made the film with Rajinikanth.

In Rajinikanth: The Definitive Biography, the superstar revealed to his biographer Naman Ramachandran, “I told him you have written the script with Kamal Haasan in mind. If you keep him in mind while looking at me, I can’t do it. Shankar’s reply to me was, ‘Am I a fool?’ He told me he had changed the script to suit me. When I was shooting for Enthiran, I noticed that Shankar kept looking at the monitor. Even after seven or eight takes, he wouldn’t say okay. So I told him, ‘I’d told you in the beginning – forget Kamal’.”

For 2.0, the sequel to Enthiran, Shankar approached Kamal to play the antagonist’s role. It was only after Kamal turned down the offer of what would have been a casting coup, Akshay Kumar stepped into the role.

With chances of a filmi combo offer almost ruled out, it is therefore interesting when Kamal Haasan talks of a jugalbandi with Rajinikanth in a political role. At an event in Chennai last week, Kamal said, “There are questions whether I will join hands with Rajinikanth in politics. If Rajini enters politics, I will join hands with him.”

In the same breath, Kamal talks about an entry only if the people seek him to play a political role. Is he then looking at an Arvind Kejriwal kind of a lateral entry into the political theatre? Where buoyed by civil society support, he is able to translate the mass appeal that Rajini and he together enjoy, into creating the framework for a better Tamil Nadu.

While it seems unrealistic and daunting, the Aam Aadmi Party is a template Kamal could look at closely. With all its inherent faults, Kejriwal in the initial phase showed that speaking the language of the common man works especially when the man on the street is extremely frustrated with the status quo. Kamal is in the testing phase right now, using Twitter as his laboratory. And if the reactions to his Tweets talking about corruption and taking on the establishment are anything to go by, Kamal is preparing the script for an actor-turned-politician.

Rajini would be a useful ally because he will bring in the numbers and the credibility. A political collaboration between the two has the potential to set the Cooum on fire and take Tamil Nadu by storm. The flip side, however, is that the two men are as different as chalk from cheese.

For one, Kamal is an atheist and wears his rationalist temperament on his sleeve. Rajini, on the other hand, is a God-fearing person, given to undertaking pilgrimages to the Himalayas. Kamal has declared his colour is not saffron, Rajini has displayed a pro-BJP demeanour. Kamal is open about articulating his position without mincing words, Rajini couches every jab beneath a velvet glove and left to himself, would prefer to sidestep anything remotely controversial.

Apart from these differences, the two actors have to decide if they have the temperament to build an organisation from scratch while ensuring unscrupulous people do not gain entry. Do they have the patience of working as politicians in the long run? Will they sacrifice a fairly lucrative film career for the heat and dust of politics? As leading men, they are used to bouquets and adulation, whereas as politicians, brickbats will be aplenty.

Kamal and Rajini’s political call sheet will depend on the answers to these questions. Till then, the speculation video will be in buffering mode.

The author can be contacted on Twitter @iamtssudhir