Forget Kabali, Rajini wins

Rajinikanth’s Kabali released amidst fanfare on Friday. Though the movie opened to mixed reviews, hardcore fans assembled outside the theatres early in the morning to celebrate the day’s first show.

Parking areas were brimming with cars and bikes, and people stood in long queues to watch the Rajinikanth-starrer. “I was not in town for a week, so I couldn’t book the tickets. But you won’t believe my luck; I got tickets for the first show itself. There was a group of students who had two extra tickets; I got it from them and that too without any extra charge. Even God wants me to watch Rajini sir on the first day,” says a fan, Nagaraju.

Dressed in their fineries, a group of ladies, screaming Rajini’s name is a rare scene. “Me and my colleagues got a day off from work and also a treat to watch Kabali, all sponsored by the company,” says Neelima. “I am a huge Rajini fan, and I didn’t want to miss it. So, I thought why should my not get the opportunity to watch it, so I booked tickets for everyone. It was a surprise for them. I broke the news once they came to office today,” says the owner of a consultancy firm, Alok Singh.

However, fans of the superstar, who have been waiting for the release of Kabali since two years, expected a lot more from the movie. “We waited for long to get the tickets. The movie, however, was okay. We were expecting more from the storyline, but it was fine. Rajinikanth’s acting was amazing — a 10/10 for him. We watched it in Telugu and we’ll be watching it in Tamil again,” says Spandana, who watched the movie with her friends.

“I didn’t really like the movie. There was a lot of hype surrounding it. There was a lot of violence too, however Rajini’s acting was good. But, there was no proper plot — the story dragged on for long,” adds Sandeep Daniel, a student.

Many fans were there to watch Rajini, and not the movie. “It was a nice film but it was very slow. If you are a Rajini fan, you will love the movie. But, if you are a movie fan, it will definitely disappoint you,” says Sidharth, a Medical student. His friends, Kavya and Suchitha, who bunked college to watch the movie, agree with Sidharth. “I expected so much more from the movie. The story was a little disappointing. We just enjoyed seeing Rajini on the big screen after a long time,” says Kavya.

Mayuri Tanna and her husband Heeren, even though have very little knowledge of Telugu or Tamil, came to watch the movie just for the sake of all the hype and the craziness involved. “We are basically from Mumbai and shifted six months ago. But when we came here, whoever we have asked about what’s the one movie to look out for, all said Kabali. So, we thought we’ll watch it in Telugu itself to get the feeling of being in Hyderabad,” says Mayuri, who watched the movie on first day.

Viewers gave mixed reactions. Few liked the way Rajinikanth was portrayed and while others felt that there was a lack of a proper script. “I would have been happy with the movie if it had any other star as the lead. I guess as it’s Rajinikanth, the expectations were high and the script didn’t do justice to Rajini’s superstar status,” says a disappointed fan of Rajini, Rakesh, who bunked his office to watch the film.

Whatever may the verdict regarding the movie; thalaivar’s Kabali did rock the show in the city on the first day itself.

Ticket frenzy Theatre owners across India clearly wanted to cash in on the Rajini-mania as they made a killing by selling Kabali tickets at exorbitant prices.

With the average ticket costing Rs 600, tickets were sold as high as Rs 1,200 per ticket even at an ordinary theatre. On Friday, thousands of Rajini fans in theatres in Chennai created a ruckus and were seen removing banners and cutouts of Rajinikanth from the theatres. Said Raju, a fan, “The first-day, first-shows are meant for fans like us. We paste the posters, erect banners and what not for our thalaivar, but we were ignored.” Some fans attributed the unavailability of tickets to them being sold in bulk to corporates.

Reportedly, police was also controlling the crowd with mild lathi charge. The crowd also removed banners, posters and cutouts and took it with them. Soon, they left the venue saying “We don’t want to watch Rajini sir’s movie. We want to boycott”.

Mixed review, a leak and a day out A special themed flight. Restaurants and pubs across the country naming dishes and cocktails and celebrating nights in honour of the phenomenon. Offices declaring holidays for their employees. A marketing masterclass that was hitherto unseen before. Records broken worldwide. And of course, a Superstar who was not even on Indian shores during the release of probably his most hyped-film ever. But all this couldn’t prevent Kabali from being leaked online on the morning of its release — adding fuel to the fire of disappointed reviews that swept the online cyberspace after fans thronged the early screenings.

Rajini effect Rajini-fans across the country went crazy with the release of his latest venture Kabali. From bathing his posters with milk and doing an aarti to burning crackers, the fans left no stone unturned to express their love for the cultural icon. “Rajinikanth is ultimate. He is the best human being in the world. So we don’t want to see the cinema. We just want to see Rajini on the screen,” says a fan. The 100-crore budget movie is expected to earn almost Rs 200 crore within two days of its release. From Twitter to roads, fans took every medium to share their excitement over the release. Some notable people from every walk of life took to their Twitter handles to share their fanboy moments. “MAKE WAY .. THE KING ARRIVES .. #kabali FROM TOM .. Time to celebrate. #firstdayfirstshow #superstar #neruppuda,” tweeted actor Dhanush.