Hundreds of thousands of fans are flocking to cinemas across
India with frenzy also mounting around the world.
Some businesses gave employees time off to avoid
"sick" days, a jumbo jet was repainted in honour of the film and
Twitter India "broke" several times.
It made $30m (£20m) in film rights sales even before it
released.
The film is being shown on more than 12,000 screens in India
alone from Friday. The term "blockbuster" doesn't even come close.
Who is
Rajinikanth?
Rajinikanth is an Indian film actor who works
mostly in Tamil cinema. He is one of Asia's highest paid actors with a
notoriously devoted fan base.
Screaming fans throng cinema halls hours before his
films and prayer ceremonies for their success are held.
Watching
a Rajinikanth film is an experience in itself. He lights cigarettes with his
pistol, catches grenades with his eyes closed, leaps to unfeasible heights and
knocks out rooms full of bad guys in mere seconds.
People cheer, clap, whistle and stomp their feet every time he
comes on-screen.
Off the
screen he is so revered that any news of ill health has been known to have
serious consequences. In one incident, a fan from Tamil Nadu attempted to overdose on sleeping pills and later told doctors and his family
that he had been trying to "end his life" and donate his kidneys to
the actor.
What is
Kabali all about?
Kabali has been described as a gangster revenge drama. Some reports say a
trailer for the movie is the most watched teaser in Asia.
The film is being released in a number of countries including Malaysia,
Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the US, France and Japan, where tickets are said to be
selling out fast.
What
have fans have done for Kabali?
§
One
fan will watch the show ten times - back to back
Srinivasan
Jayaseelan, a self confessed "super fan" in the south Indian city of
Chennai (Madras) has told reporters that he plans to spend all of 22 and
23 July inside a cinema hall, because he will be watching Kabali ten times in a
row.
§ People are repainting their vehicles in Kabali body paint
Sports cars, buses and even India's ubiquitous
"auto rickshaws" in south India are driving down the streets with
Kabali imagery emblazoned all over them.
One car dealer in Tamil Nadu is even repainting brand new cars
with graphics from the film and has told reporters that they are selling out quickly. One
report suggests a businessman in Malaysia has also followed suit, getting a Kabali wrap for
his Lamborghini.
§
A
jet has been repainted with Kabali graphics
Budget airline Air Asia laid on a special Kabali flight from Bangalore to Chennai, featuring
Rajinikanth's favourite food. The special flight carried 180 Rajinikanth fans
to watch the film.
Fans paid 7,860 rupees ($116; £79) return fare to fly from
Bangalore to Chennai to watch the "first day, first show" of the film
at a Chennai theatre, pick up movie merchandise and return home after lunch.
§
Employers
in south India have declared Friday a holiday
In Chennai and Bangalore, some companies have
declared a holiday on Friday and given their employees free tickets for the
film.
They say it is to avoid people calling in sick,
turning off their phones or simply failing to turn up for work. One firm said
it had declared a holiday to "avoid piled up leave requests to the HR
department".
§ Fans are crossing countries to watch the film
§ A group
of Japanese fans have flown all the way to Chennai to catch the "first day
first show" of the movie.
§ Wearing
"Kabali" t-shirts and waving placards to the delight of
fellow fans and reporters, they lined up outside cinemas in the city ahead of
the film.
§ In
1999, Newsweek magazine compared Rajinikanth's
fame in Japan to that of Leonardo DiCaprio.
Representing Image
Source: BBC
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