Huge cutouts, posters and banners of Tamil superstar Rajinikanth donned the theatres in the City on Friday, when his much-awaited animated movie shot on motion, Kochadiiyaan, was released across the globe after much d
elay.
Rajini fans who thronged the theatres were excited to catch a glimpse of their star on silver screen after a gap of four years. His last film was Enthiran.
Policemen were on their toes at theatres controlling the crowd, making sure there was no commotion. People formed serpentine queue in front of the ticket counter at many cinemas. Most of them had come to buy tickets as early as 5 am.
The police resorted to mild caning near Nataraj theatre where fans spilled over onto the road causing inconvenience to motorists.
A police officer said the reason for them to be in plainclothes was to check sale black tickets.
Festival celebrations
Senthil Kumar, interior designer and an ardent fan of Rajini, said, “Earlier when Rajini movies were released, it would be like a festival celebration as there were several independent theatres in the City like Naga and Ajanta.
But now they are shut. The fans used to break coconuts, perform aarthi, do abhishekas to the cutouts of the superstar. But all this is missing. Now, people tend to go to malls and watch the movie without much fanfare and celebration.”
A traffic police constable near Mukunda theatre in Maruthi Sevanagar said the police made sure the crowd did not cause inconvenience to the public and ensured free flow of traffic.
First day-first show
A staffer at Mukunda theatre said usually tickets for the first day-first show is booked by various Rajinikanth fans’ associations much in advance. Only a certain amount of tickets are sold at the counter. Moreover, after four years, a movie of Raijni has been released. So, everyone is excited to see their star in a different role.
Another employee at Pushpanjali theatre in B Narayanapura said that before multiplexes came up in the City, it was joy to watch movies at theatres.
Fans used to burst crackers and dance in front of the screen and throw money. But now, people are not much interested in watching movies at theatres, rather they sit at home and watch it on the Internet.