A secular South India is well in place in the City right now with Kannadigas, Tamilians and Telugu-speaking people joining hands to celebrate the opening day of their reigning ‘deity’ Rajnikanth's Sivaji. It is the mother of all occasions for the superstar's fans .
Friday will also be an unforgettable day for seven-year-old Ashwini, a resident of Ulsoor, who went on a hunger fast for a week from April 14 when the originally scheduled release did not take place that day.
The antics of fans here were bizarre. The biggest fad was tonsuring heads and growing a beard to match the superstar's looks in the film. Tattooing various poses of Rajni on their chests was another common way of expressing their love. Gunashekar of Murphy Town will be dressed up exactly like his ‘Thalaivar’ when he goes to watch the first show.
The ‘Dalapathi Fans’ group on Kamaraj Road is donating a kiosk worth Rs 20,000 to a cobbler on the street. "We spent over Rs 30,000 on garlands when Chandramukhi was released. This time we decided to do something solid," said Gopi, a representative. "We will also be donating 10,000 ‘Sivaji caps’ free of cost," another member Sridhar said.
"This is our main festival, not anything else," remarks Balachander, a driver at Leela Palace, who has managed to get a three-day leave. Manju left his wife of a fortnight, at her mother's place, so he could watch the film with his friends! June 15 has added attraction for Suresh, Vasant, Sridhar, John and Karthick of the group who have played the role of henchmen in the movie. They were selected for the role by the superstar himself.
Women too have had tatoos done on their arms. Fan associations have been plagued with demands from women for first-day tickets.
A huge procession will be taken out on Friday by the Mahaveer Rajnikanth Fans’ Association located on Airport road. “Nearly 2,000 fans will walk from Airport Road to Ajantha Theatre and then to Innovative Multiplex,” said its president V Harsha. The group has also created a 200-ft banner, the largest one for Rajnikanth in the country, outbeating a 120-ft banner created by fans in Murphy Town and a 100-ft banner in Tamil Nadu.
A huge 16-ft star with their hero’s picture on it, will also be placed there. Five hundred coconuts will be broken at 7.30 am and abhishekham will be performed at 9 am.
Meanwhile Saravanan, who runs his STD booth at Ulsoor, has gone with 21 friends (Kannadigas, Tamilians and Telugu-speaking people) all the way to Tamil Nadu to watch the show with 45 other friends there. Most fans don’t mind having paid Rs 1,000 on a ticket. One die-hard fan was beaten up by the police for attempting to break the queue for a ticket. But he said it didn’t matter since it was all for Rajni’s sake!
