Ajith Kumar ‘extremely thankful’ CM Vijay is waving green flag at Le Mans race; speaks of his colleague with fondness | Hindustan Times

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Tamil superstar C Joseph Vijay will wave the ceremonial green flag at the Le Mans race in Silverstone, England, on Saturday. Another superstar, Ajith Kumar, will be competing in the race with his team. Talking to the press ahead of the race, he spoke about his colleague of 34 years with nothing but fondness, despite their rumoured rivalry.Ajith Kumar happy Vijay is now TN CMAjith was asked about Vijay attending the race by the press, and he said, “I am extremely thankful to the Honourable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, C Joseph Vijay, to have taken time off from his busy schedule to come and visit us at Silverstone. We’ve been colleagues in the film industry for the last 34 years, and I’m very happy for him that he’s now the Chief Minister-elect.”He also expressed hope about India hosting sporting events in the future and added, “They have been doing a lot to promote sports from every discipline, not just motorsport. They’re looking at motorsport as well. I’m glad he accepted the invitation to come and look at what are the logistic-wise, infrastructure-wise, it would take for India, Chennai to host events like the Le Mans series in India. And my wish is to see these events come to India and all of us race in India, you know?” About Ajith Kumar and VijayAjith debuted as a lead actor in the 1993 film Amaravathy, and Vijay in the 1992 film Naalaiya Theerpu. For over three decades now, both their fans have warred with each other offline and online over their perceived rivalry. They even coined nicknames to mock each other, with Vijay’s fans being called anils (squirrels) and Ajith’s fans called aamais (tortoises/turtles).So, when the official Le Mans page announced that Vijay would wave the ceremonial green flag at Ajith’s race, fans were shocked. Many expressed surprise that neither fan club would expect something like this to happen in the 2000s. Some X (formerly Twitter) users even claimed to travel just to see Ajith and Vijay together. “Fans are travelling from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and many other places to London, spending a lot just to witness #CMVijay & Thala #AjithKumar together. My friend’s friend, a Tamil influencer based in Scotland, has already reached London and she’s just one among many fans making the trip. This is not just a meeting, it’s a moment the entire World is waiting for,” wrote an excited fan on X. Several fans are already posting pictures and videos with Ajith and Vijay from the UK.