Speaking at the inaugural function of BIIC (Bharathiraja International Institute of Cinema), veteran filmmaker Bharathiraja said, “I saw Rajinikanth as a simple guy when he played the villain in ’16 Vayadhinile’. Now, he has reached unattainable heights in his career. I’m happy that I’ve played a minuscule role in it. I would never say I played a major role in his career growth. He’s a self-made man.”
Rajinikanth said: “I like Bharathiraja very much. He likes me, but he doesn’t like me. In his old interviews, when journalists used to ask him his opinion on me as an actor, he would say, ‘He is a good human being.’ He never accepted me as a good actor. I could always read his mind voice, ‘How do people accept him as an actor?'”