Thalaivar is here and how. The last few days saw perhaps, the biggest ever phenomenon of Indian cinema open to packed houses across Tamilnadu, Andhra, Kerala, Karnataka, Mumbai, Japan, USA and the Far East. In fact that is an understatement. People, sorry read as devotees of Rajini, thronged cinema halls. Every show, in nearly every cinema hall in Chennai, has been booked for over 20 days. Ever heard of something like this? This can happen only in Tamilnadu and perhaps, only for Rajini.
Depending on how you look at it, the experience of watching a Rajini movie in the first few days can be completely exhilarating or absolutely boisterous. But never dull. Seeing the adoration people have for the man can be quite a moving experience. The processions taken out by hundreds of thousands of his fans carrying his cutouts through the streets can put to shame any seasoned politician’s ability to mobilize crowds. Billboards of politicians dwarf in comparison to these 60 feet or more cuts outs of the superstar. Milk by the liters, is poured over these cutouts. This kind of adulation was hitherto reserved only to the Gods. But hey, he is no ordinary man either. Thousands of rupees worth garlands then adorn these cutouts. Pujas are performed and then the crowd sweeps into the cinemas.
Every little move, every dialogue, every scene is cheered, applauded, hooted. In short, there is very little that you can see or hear. That’s why I suppose; so many people go back the second time and the third time to watch the movie 
By the way, just for the record, his earlier movie, released about 2 years ago, is still running at a cinema, grossing over Rs. 60 crore!
The other amazing thing about Rajini is the fact that his off screen persona is as affable as his reel life. He is not pretentious, neither is he to perturbed by his reel life glamour. He is the way he is and people just love that. It perhaps, adds to the “savior of the needy” image that he so deservingly carries.
On the day of release of Sivaji, I casually asked my driver, what would happen if the movie bombs? After all about Rs.100 crore was riding on it. Without even batting an eyelid, he said “no chance of flopping sar”. When I quizzed him a bit more on this, he told me “ Sar, AVM is involved. They will not make bad movies, they check, story, dialogues, screenplay all that, then, we have Shankar sar… He has made only a few movies but all of them are very good. Anniyan, you must have seen no sar, the hero had hair like yours, that movie also was Shankar sar’s… than we have AR Rehaman Sar’s music, which has to be super hit, then we have Rajini Sar… This combination has come together before. So no chance of flop sar. Ever heard of pre release rationalization? If you haven’t, well this is it, and remember you read it first here. Anyways, going by the reports, it is going to be a while before this mania comes to an end. But while it lasts, lets enjoy.
