Superstars Rajnikanth and Kamal Haasan will be coming out with the biggest films of their careers this year, reports Divya Unny

It is a crucial time for two of South Indian cinema’s biggest superstars. Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan have always been at loggerheads with each other. One for his star appeal and the other for his impeccable acting abilities. The magnitude of the films they work in have always been larger than life.

This time over, it is Rajni’s Sultan: The Warrior and Kamal’s Dasavatharam is being looked forward as a direct on-screen combat between the two superstars. Here’s a low down on both the ventures that have been and will be talk of the industry for a very long time.

The plot: As Kamal Haasan gears up to play 10 different roles in one film with Dasavatharam, superstar Rajni sets to play his first animation character with Sultan. Challenging ventures for both the veterans, the films have been spoken about at such great lengths, that fans across are already very high on expectations for them. Be it Mallika Sherawat’s item number in the former or Ranji as the country first living caricature, both films have successfully managed to create enough clout even before their release. Dasavatharam that has been under production for the past two years is finally set to release this April and Sultan is expected to stretch to Jan next year.

The notes: The music of both films will definitely be ultra-different from each other, considering that it is Himesh Reshhamiya (Dasavatharam) and AR Rahman (Sultan) who will be scoring music for the films. For Himesh, this would be the biggest project till date. For Rahman, this is his first ever animation venture. Well Rajni-Rahman seem to be a hit combo, we would really have to see what comes out of Kamal-Himesh.

The money: Though the exact official budget of both the films have been under tight wraps, both of them are speculated to be two of the costliest films Indian cinema has ever seen. Dasavatharam even surpasses Rajni’s earlier release Sivaji with an approximate budget of over Rs 70 crores. Though Sultan, as of now, is being worked out at a Rs 40-50 crore budget, rumours are rife that the film will definitely cost a lot higher.

The road ahead:  Both the stars have already taken charge of their forthcoming mammoth productions. Rajnikanth will be seen in the much talked about Robot opposite Aishwarya Rai and also another project (a remake of the Malayalam film Katha Parayambol) apart from Sultan. Kamal Haasan’s next venture is Marmayogi with Hema Malini which will be produced by Walt Disney Pictures.