Rajinikanth and Thalapathy Vijay's box office rivlary is known to all. It got intense last year when the former's 'Jailer' and the latter's 'Leo' were released together. It so happened that at the 'Jailer' audio launch in 2023, superstar Rajinikanth shared a story about a crow and eagle and how they survive in the world. The speech didn't go down well with Vijay's fans and they thought it was an indirect hit to the 'Master' actor. Their fans were at loggerheads on social media post Rajinikanth's statement. 

As reported by India Today, while talking about the fights of fans on social media, Rajinikanth, at the 'Lal Salaam' event, yesterday said that the story of a crow and eagle was interpreted differently. ''On social media, many spread rumours saying it was against Vijay. It's so disappointing. Vijay grew up in front of my eyes. During the shooting of 'Dharmathin Thalaivan', he was just 13 years old and looked at me from upstairs. After the shooting, SA Chandrasekar introduced Vijay to me and said that he was interested in acting. He asked me to tell Vijay to concentrate on his studies first. I advised him to complete his schooling,'' he said. 

He added, "Vijay then became an actor, and now he's at the top because of his discipline, hard work and talent. He is going to politics next. It feels sad to hear that there's competition between us. Vijay had said that he is his competition and I have also stated the same. It's disrespectful to say that we are each other's competition. I'd request our fans not to compare."

For the unversed, at the 'Jailer' event, Rajinikanth using a metaphor had said, “In Birds, crow disturbs everyone. Eagle never disturbs everyone. Whenever crow disturbs eagle, eagle doesn't do anything, it just goes to the next stage.” 

On the work front, Rajinikanth will be seen in his daughter Aishwarya's upcoming film, 'Lal Salaam'. It will release in theatres on February 9. He will also be seen in TJ Gnanavel's 'Vettaiyan' and Lokesh Kanagaraj's 'Thalaivar 171'.

Vijay is currently shooting for Venkat Prabhu's 'GOAT'.