On Sunday, 61-year-old Haasan was chosen for the prestigious Chevalier Award, the second Tamil star after thespian Sivaji Ganesan to be nominated for the French honour.
"My hearty congratulations to the iconic actor of our generation, Chevalier (and) my dear friend Kamal Haasan," the "Kabali" star said in a Tamil twitter post.
Incidentally, Rajnikant had made his debut in the K Balachander directed "Apoorva Ragangal", starring Haasan in the lead role.
The two went on to star in a number of films including "Moondru Mudichu", "Aval Appidithan", "Ninaithale Inikkum" and "Pathinaru Vayathinile"