Rajnikanth fan frenzy in Dubai; ‘Kochadaiiyan’ opens to sell-out shows

The ‘X-Men’ and ‘Godzilla’ had better brace themselves for a royal battle this weekend, for there’s a new nemesis at the UAE box office that goes by the name of Superstar Rajnikanth.

‘The Boss’ as his army of ardent fans lovingly refer to him as, returns to the silver-screen after a four year hiatus in the highly-anticipated ‘Kochadaiiyaan’ spectacle.

There is an upcoming invasion of his dedicated fans and its coming to a cinema near you.

First-day screenings of the South Indian superstar’s photo-realistic film are already selling out across UAE theatres, with Eros International releasing ‘Kochadaiiyaan’ in both, Hindi and Tamil, languages to cater to a wider audience.

Vox Cinemas, which is screening only the Tamil version of the Rajnikanth and Deepika Padukone starrer, has already sold out Thursday’s 9pm show at the Mall of the Emirates, while only the front row remains for the 11.30pm screening.

The 6.30pm show isn’t faring much better either for fans, with only the front two rows remaining to be snapped up.

The theatre operator faces a similar fan frenzy on Friday, with only the front two or three rows remaining post the 4pm screenings.

Novo Cinemas (former Grand Cinemas) faces similar fan frenzy, with the operator showcasing the Superstar starrer in both languages. Extra screens have been added over the last few days, giving fans an opportunity to see the actor on the big screen.

The fan frenzy for Rajinikanth’s ‘Kochadaiiyaan’ began months in advance with the Superstar even joining Twitter in the lead up to his release. When the actor joined, he instantly broke the record for the first day followers by any Indian movie star by getting over 250,000 followers on the first day.

‘Kochadaiiyaan’ was initially slated to hit the screens on May 8, was delayed due to technical snags.

For fans such a Sohaib Kutty, the delay has left him even more determined to watch the film on day one of screening.

He said: “We were upset when we heard ‘Thalaivar’s’ [fan name for Rajnikanth] film had been delayed by two weeks, but the anticipation has only grown bigger as the day arrives.”

Kutty stated he will be watching the movie with 15 other friends, with all of them leaving work a few hours early to make it to Golden Cinema.

Meanwhile 27-year-old Sunil Menon plans on watching the film with three generations of his family in honour of the Superstar.

He said: “My grandfather has been watching Thalivar’s films since ‘Bhuvana Oru Kelvikkuri’ if not earlier. Growing up, both my father and I have carried forth our passion for Rajni Sir’s films, which I now want to pass on to my five-year-old son.”

Parvati Gajaria and her friends plan on celebrating a ‘superstar weekend’ in Rajnikanth’s honour before they take in the movie on Saturday.

She said: “We have it all settled. Friday will be a Rajni Sir film marathon – from ‘Baasha’ to ‘Enthiran’. And if the movie marathon comes without subtitles for us non Tamil speaking fans, then we will make the lines up as we go along and revel in the gravity-defying wonderment of The Boss.”

However, not everyone appears to be a big fan of the Superstar’s latest endeavour.

‘Deshdrohi’ actor and controversy king, Kamaal R Khan tweeted: “I will not watch [the] crap film ‘Kochadaiiyaan’.”

Directed by Rajnikanth’s daughter, Soundarya R Ashwin, the film uses motion capture 3D computer-animation, which will see the Superstar in three lead roles.

Starring alongside are R Sarathkumar, Aadhi, Shobana and Jackie Shroff.

The film is being released in six Indian language versions Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Marathi, Bhojpuri and Punjabi, simultaneously in 2D and 3D in over 6,000 screens worldwide.

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