With the release of Kabali a day away, Rajini jokes are back in vogue. One popular joke doing the rounds on social media is about companies in Bengaluru and Chennai declaring a holiday on July 22, the release day: ‘Salman Khan releases his movie on Id because it is a holiday. Rajinikanth releases his movie and it becomes a holiday.’
Akhil Gupta, co-founder of a startup, has given his 40 employees the day off. He says he was tricked into the deal by an RJ who called him on radio with the request. “Well, a lot of us in office are Rajinikanth fans and are keen to catch the film, but tickets are difficult to get,” he said.
After news broke of firms giving employees holiday on Friday, a lot of Bengalureans decided to try their luck. “Today, we have received plenty of requests to ‘call our boss,’ but we don’t know if we should take it up. Maybe if a lot of people ask, we will think about it. Fifteen to 20 people rang us up with requests today,” said Sriram Sullia, a city-based RJ.
From Japan with loveRajini’s Muthu , released as Dancing Maharaja in Japan in 1998, became such a hit that tour operators in that country began to organise ‘Dancing Maharaja tours’ for tourists to catch a movie of the star in Chennai. With Kabali being released in Malay, Thai and Japanese, there is quite a bit of interest in the movie in East Asia. A major part of the film was shot in Malaysia.
“There are movies like Muthu and Robot that were popular in Japan. It is nice to know that a South Indian movie is being released in Japan. It’s a good platform for the Japanese to get to know Indian culture,” said Yuki Kubota, a Japanese professional working in Bengaluru.
Special cover releaseThe Department of Posts is releasing a special carrier cover to mark the special aircraft that will fly fans from Bengaluru to Chennai on Friday to watch the movie. The Karnataka Postal Circle and the Chennai city region of the department have joined hands with AirAsia for the initiative.
“The carrier covers will bear the postmarks of the Bengaluru and Chennai airport post offices,” said Thimmoji Rao, assistant superintendent, General Post Office. Limited editions will be subsequently available at the Philatelic Bureau of Bengaluru GPO and Anna Road Head Post Office, Chennai.
Rajini, before he became RajiniEvery time a Rajini movie releases, all eyes turn to a small house in a quiet neighbourhood in Hanumathanagar, Bengaluru. This is where Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, known to the world as Rajinikanth, grew up before he became one of India’s most sought-after stars. The nameplate in Kannada reads: Rajinikanth and brothers. Rajnikanth’s elder brother Sathyanarayana Rao Gaekwad now lives in the house. Old friends of the star say Rajini often visits his childhood home and favourite haunts in the city in disguise.
