Vijay respects seniority over popularity: Director Nesan

Tamil superstar Vijay, who has teamed up with Malayalam superstar Mohanlal in upcoming film "Jilla", has requested his director to place his name after his senior co-star's in the film's title card.

"Vijay ensured that Lal (Mohanlal) sir's name appears first on the title card followed by his name. I believe he respects seniority more than popularity, and therefore, requested me to not place his name first on the title card," the film's director Nesan told IANS.

While Vijay recently completed over two decades in the industry, his Malayalee counterpart Mohanlal has over three decades of rich experience in filmdom.

Mohanlal, however, wanted Vijay's name to appear first on the title card.

"Lal sir also called me and asked me to place Vijay's name first on title card because he is a superstar in Tamil cinema and the film also happens to be in the same language. But Vijay sir was headstrong that we don't have his name first on the screen," he said.

"Finally, we have decided to place Mohanlal sir's name first on the title card," Nesan added.

Also featuring Mahat Raghavendra, Kajal Aggarwal, Nivedha Thomas, Soori, Sampath Raj and Pradeep Rawat in important roles, "Jilla" will hit the screens Jan 10, 2014.