‘Rajini fever’ hits Tamil Nadu ahead of 'Jailer' release

A Rajinikanth-starrer movie is due for release, and it is time for celebrations. That is what many die-hard fans of the Tamil superstar are doing ahead of the release of Jailer, directed by Nelson Dilipkumar on August 10.

Two firms based in Madurai and Salem have declared holiday for their employees to enable them to watch Rajinikanth back in action on the silver screen after two years, while a blogger has declared a “day off” for himself on social media to revel in celebrations on Thursday when the movie releases in over 2,000 screens across the globe.

Two Sri Lankan Tamils have flown to Chennai to join thousands of Rajinikanth fans to watch the "First Day, First Show" of Jailer. It has been a week since Japanese nationals Yasuda and Satsuki reached Chennai from Tokyo to take part in the ‘ritual’ of celebrating Rajinikanth on the day of his movie release.

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Movie theatres across the state and in cities like Bengaluru, which has a sizeable Tamil population, wear a festive look ahead of the release of the movie, with fans welcoming it with huge celebrations, including bathing the cut-outs with milk.

Tamil Twitter and Facebook are dotted with mentions of Jailer with fans expressing their enthusiasm by posting pictures of their tickets to watch the movie. Jailer, bankrolled by Sun Pictures of media baron Kalanithi Maran, boasts of a rich cast with some of the big names of South Indian cinema like Mohanlal (Malayalam) and Shiva Rajkumar (Kannada) joining Rajinikanth.

Madurai-based Uno Aqua Care, a company that deals with systems and sales of RO, and SalemSurvey Group, a digital survey firm, have gone a step further by declaring a holiday on August 10. Both companies are providing free tickets as well to their employees.

A public notice by Uno Aqua Care, which is now viral on social media, says the company will also provide free tickets to its employees for Jailer and mentions Rajinikanth as the “only superstar for our grandfather, our father, our generation, our son, and to our grandson.”

“Since we kept getting leave requests, we decided to declare a holiday. Moreover, our Managing Director Mohammad Irshad is a die-hard Rajinikanth fan, and he was happy to accept our request and sanction free movie tickets. We wish feisty celebrations for the fans,” a member of the company’s HR team told DH.

A notice by SalemSurvey Group said the holiday is applicable for all its employees working in Chennai, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Goa, Mumbai, and Odisha.

Arujuna Arul and his friend R Sivakumaran, both Sri Lankan Tamils, said they are coming to Tamil Nadu for the first time in three years. “We are here to meet the one large extended family bestowed by Thalaivar to celebrate Jailer. It is our family function,” Arul said.

The Japanese couple -- Yasuda and Satsuki – for whom Jailer will be the fourth FDFS Rajinikanth movie in Chennai, their happiness knows no bounds. They are crisscrossing Chennai by visiting Rajinikanth and his fans and posting regular updates on their social media pages.

Rajinikanth commands a massive fan following in Japan, where his 1996 movie Muthu was an instant hit and ran in theatres for one full year.