Rajinikanth vs MGR: During his rise to superstardom in Tamil cinema, Rajinikanth faced obstacles in acting with certain actresses, and MGR is said to be one of the reasons. This article delves into the intriguing story of how MGR's agreement might have prevented actresses Latha and Jayalalitha from sharing the screen with Rajinikanth.
In the 1980s, when Rajinikanth was delivering consecutive hit films and becoming a top star in Tamil cinema, some actresses refused to act opposite him. Those actresses were none other than Latha and Jayalalitha. MGR's agreement was said to be one of the reasons behind their refusal to act with Rajinikanth. Let's take a closer look at this in this compilation. In 1972, MGR founded the AIADMK party and was busy in politics, but he continued to act in films. In 1974, he was about to go on a trip to Mauritius for a film.
MGR, while addressing the reporters, spoke about the agreement between him and Latha. He said that the agreement stated that actress Latha could not act in any film without his permission. And even if she commits to acting, she should give priority to his films. MGR reportedly made this agreement while Latha was acting in the film 'Ulagam Sutrum Vaalibar'. It was in this situation that actress Latha got an opportunity to act opposite Rajinikanth.
But due to the agreement made by MGR, she could not act in Rajini's film. It was widely rumored at that time that MGR's obstruction was the reason for this. Actress Jayalalithaa also faced a similar problem. She also got an opportunity to act with Rajini. But it was widely rumored at that time that MGR's intervention was behind her not acting. But Jayalalithaa herself has responded to this controversy.
In 1979, Jayalalithaa gave an interview in a magazine in a question-and-answer format. In it, Jayalalithaa answered the question whether the news of her refusing to act with Rajini was true. She said, 'It is true that I refused to act. There is no other reason for that, I did not act because the role they gave me was not satisfactory.' Meanwhile, in 1980, there were reports that Jayalalithaa was struggling without any film opportunities. Jayalalithaa wrote a rebuttal letter to the magazine that published the news.
In it, she said, 'I am not struggling to act in films again. In fact, I got a lot of good opportunities to act in films. The most important of them is the film 'Billa'. The film's producer, Balaji, first approached me to play opposite Rajinikanth. But I refused to act in that film for some reason. It was only after that that actress Sridevi was cast in that role.