Holiday as fans celebrate Rajinikanth film

CHENNAI: Private companies declared a holiday and parents kept children out of school as an air of celebration swept southern India yesterday for the premiere of Indian superstar Rajinikanth’s latest film.

Hundreds of thousands of Rajinikanth fans thronged cinemas across Tamil-language India and Malaysia to catch the pre-dawn showing of Kabali, a gangster movie that left patrons jumping from their seats and dancing in the aisles.

Crowds waited outside theatres all night before the first showing, and here, the capital of Tamil Nadu state, Rajinikanth enthusiasts burst firecrackers and distributed sweets outside cinemas.

Inside the Woodlands theatre, one of the city’s oldest, fans rose to their feet, danced and sang along as the superstar made his first appearance.

Huge cut-outs of the star and posters loomed large in the street outside the theatre. In several places, fans poured big cans of milk over the cut-outs in a Hindu ritual to bless the star.

Sixty-five-year-old Rajinikanth is one of India’s most popular stars and counts millions of fans who speak the Tamil language and even those who don’t. The film, also starring Taiwanese actor Winston Chao, has been shot in Malaysia and southern India.

Kabali is being released in more than 12,000 screens across India, as well as in the United Kingdom and Malaysia, which has a sizeable Tamil-speaking population and millions of Rajinikanth fans. It also premiered in 400 United States theatres. Rajinikanth attended a special screening in San Francisco.

The action star has a huge following in Japan, too, where his films are big box office earners.

For Alandur P. Sridhar, an insurance company employee, the long wait for his hero’s new film is over.

“I’ve been waiting for two years for this film,” said Sridhar, who came to watch the film in a group of 30, all dressed in white T-shirts with Rajinikanth’s picture. The group was enthusiastically taking pictures near a poster of their favourite star.

Born Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, the megastar worked as a bus conductor for three years in Bangalore before joining an acting school here. Starting out playing small roles as villains in Tamil cinema, he worked his way up, landing roles even in Bollywood, India’s Hindi language film industry. Since his debut in 1975, Rajanikanth has acted in more than 150 films, many of which have broken box office records.

“This film is a celebration. This day is a celebration,” said Sridhar.

The Malaysia-based AirAsia budget carrier organised a special round-trip flight from the southern city of Bangalore to Chennai for the movie premiere. An AirAsia plane dedicated to Rajinikanth with a painted picture of him was flying to 10 destinations in India. AP