Kabali hasn't even released and Rajini mania has swept us
It's all Rajinikanth's world. We're just lucky to be floating by.
The new movie of Rajinikanth aka Thalaiva aka biggest-movie-star-in-India would be releasing this Friday (July 22) and his fans have gone to the next level of craziness. We are three days away and by the looks of it, have already reached peak #RajiniMania.
Here are some absolutely crazy things Rajini fans have done this week:
Everyone gets a holiday
A Rajini release is generally treated as an unofficial holiday in Tamil Nadu, but this time things have gone a step further with some firms actually declaring July 22 a holiday so that their employees can go and see the movie.
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| Rajinikanth in the Kabali trailer. |
An online petition is actually asking chief minister Jayalalithaa to declare July 22 as a public holiday!
Kapitalising on Kabali
Kabali's airline partner Air Asia is offering special "Rajini Class" tickets. Fans who want to see the film first day, first show in Chennai would be flown in and have to pay Rs 7,860 for the package including a movie ticket, an audio CD, Kabali merchandise, breakfast, lunch and snacks.
Muthoot Finance has actually launched limited-edition silver coins with Rajini's face on them.
The Puducherry government is giving free tickets for Kabali to residents of Sellipet panchayat who build toilets in their homes.
And it's working. Free Kabali tickets is actually solving the problem of open-defecation in India. One wonders if free Kabali tickets could reduce corruption, or fix bad Chennai roads. Anything is possible at this point.
The fandom
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| A Lamborghini Gallardo owner in Malaysia struck by Kabali fever. |
The Kabali trailer has more than 25 million views. The movie is expected to make more than Rs 200 crore in only the first three days. Tickets are sold out for the first three weeks. Even the US has joined the wave as tickets for the first weekend sold out there in two hours flat.
There is a Maruti owner who is selling cars with rajini posters (Kabali edition) on it!
With the @superstarrajini! #KabaliBus @radhika_apte @FoxStarIndia @beemji pic.twitter.com/dA2f0iF5MJ
— Fox Star Hindi (@foxstarhindi) July 19, 2016
The stories are getting crazier as we approach July 22.
Three more days...
Brace yourself.