Super Climax, Midnight Premiere

Kasi Theatre initially refuses to hold special Lingaa screening, relents after enraged fans threaten violent stir
Super Climax, Midnight Premiere

CHENNAI: Hell hath no fury like a Rajini fan scorned. Theatre owners found just how much when they attempted to cancel the much-hyped 1 am show, three hours before it was scheduled to start. Fans of the now 64-year-old Superstar who had been setting up large cut-outs and getting a cake together to cut at midnight, were flabbergasted when a sign was posted outside Kasi Theatre at 10.30 pm that read ‘As the print of Lingaa has not arrived, the 1 am show will not be screened’. Only at 12.15 pm did the theatre doors open and jubilant, screaming fans tumbled into the battered old theatre.

Earlier, gentle consternation led to full-blown agitation as the more high-spirited of the fans joined the fray by 11 pm. “I myself have spent more than Rs 30,000 for the tickets and the posters and it was all because we wanted to watch it right after celebrating Thalaivar’s birthday. There is no option for them as they’ve sold us the tickets and now the show must go on,” said upcoming filmmaker Suresh, who is part of the RBSI fan forum - which went to great lengths to organise the show.

Things took an ugly turn when the theatre management spoke to a few of the fans and flatly refused to screen the super-early show. Their retort, “Go get your money back from whoever sold it to you,” really hit a raw nerve and the 350 strong crowd began tearing the theatre’s notices and threatened to leave no stone unturned in shattering every single glass pane. “Right from the start I have been saying no to this show, but the fans and the distributors were insistent and now that permission from the police is not there, they are unwilling to leave us alone,” said the man in charge of Kasi Theatre, a self-confessed fan of Rajinikanth for over two decades.

In the interest of maintaining the peace, the cops spread word they would allow the screening if fans stayed quiet. A promise that finally came true as Kollywood stars like Bobby Sim-haa, Karunakaran, Karthik Subbaraj and Lingaa’s cameraman Rathnavelu arrived to watch the show.

Producer deposits Rs. 3cr to get HC nod

Madurai:  The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court cleared the decks for the movie’s release after mandating the producer to deposit Rs 3 crore cash and furnish Rs 7 crore bank guarantee. Initially, the court had asked for a Rs 5 crore cash deposit, but lowered it on a plea from the producer’s counsel. In the evening, producer ‘Rockline’ Venkatesh transferred Rs 3 crore electronically. K R Ravi Rathinam had moved the HC seeking to restrain the filmmakers from releasing the film on the grounds that the script was plagiarised. 

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com