There are films, and then, there are cinematic events. Rajinikanth-starrer Jailer, is all set for release today, and industry insiders have enough reason to be excited. “This level of excitement for a non-festival release, even for a big star’s film, is huge,” says Rakesh Gowthaman, the proprietor of Vettri Cinemas. He further adds, “We are fully booked till August 15, and I understand it is the same with other theatres in the city as well.
The last Rajini film to have this level of craze was Petta (2019), which was a festival release.”
Tiruppur Subramaniam, veteran film distributor and the head of Tamil Nadu’s Theatre Owners Association, shares that Jailer will be playing on around 900 screens in Tamil Nadu. He says, “The last films to get as many screens were PS2 and Vikram. Varisu and Thunivu had good buzz too, but they got released at the same time. Jailer, however, is without competition.”
Ruban Mathivanan, the managing director of GK Cinemas, was surprised by how quickly tickets got sold out. “The online advance booking was finished in a matter of 10-15 minutes. I have requests pouring in from all over the place for tickets, from friends to corporates. The last time there was such anticipation for a Rajinikanth film was for Kabali (2016).”
It is to be noted that when Jailer got announced in February 2022, Nelson faced a storm of criticism, following the debacle of Beast. Enthusiasm for Jailer was on the wane, as the project went on the floors. On how the film managed to rise in stature since then, Ruban explains, “I attribute the hype and magic to the two singles, Hukum and Kaavala, the film’s teaser, and finally, Rajinikanth’s audio launch speech.”