Tamil Nadu to get ‘Rajinified’ today

Suburbs of this metropolis woke up early to welcome Tamil superstar Rajinikanth and popular actor Ajith Kumar into theatres through their Pongal release Petta and Viswasam, respectively.

Although more than two dozen screens on the outskirts of the city had planned special shows — as early as 4 am — the celebrations began much early on Wednesday evening.

This Pongal, on January 15, the Tamil film industry for the first time in five years is witnessing release of movies of two giants — Rajinikanth and Ajith, though the latter seems to have won the pre-release war by bagging more theatres for Viswasam.

Shows in Chennai suburbs were scheduled to begin at 4 am, while in the city it will begin only after 7 am. All seats for the special 4 am shows in almost all theatres, mostly single screens, around Chennai have been sold out amid celebrations outside the theatres.

Rajini fans performed 'arti' for the huge cut-outs of their Thalaivar and bathe his hoardings with milk. Almost all tickets for the first two days in screens in and around Chennai for both Petta and Viswasam have been booked, reinforcing the actors’ sway over their fans.

Kasi and Albert theatre complexes, known for huge celebrations on the day Rajini movie releases, wore a festive look on Wednesday evening with giant cut-outs being installed by fans.

“The trailer promises to bring back the good-old Thalaivar on the screen. It will definitely be a blockbuster. I will watch the 4 am show in the suburbs and come to Kasi Theatre for the morning show,” Armugham, a die-hard Rajini fan, told DH.

There is greater excitement over Petta since the trailer promises the ingredients for a trademark Rajinikanth movie — a stylish Rajini, punch dialogues and the love scenes — unlike his previous ventures like Kabali and Kaala, which were critically-acclaimed but did not perform well at the box office.

The frenzy that is quintessential for a Rajinikanth movie was missing in the beginning, but the momentum is slowly building up with tickets for the week-end selling fast, though the speed cannot be compared with that of Kabali and Endhiran.