Chennai:
Superstar Rajinikanth had a rocking opening with Kochadaiiyaan having crowded shows in all centres. In Tamil Nadu, of course, fans went berserk offering poojas and milk abhishekam at theatres before the first show.
The country’s first full-length photo-realistic animation took off well, according to trade analysts and could rake in at least Rs 35 crore on the opening day.
The film has had an emphatic response at over 450 screens across Tamil Nadu. Archana Kalpathi of AGS Entertainment, which has two multiplexes in Chennai, said: “The response has been phenomenal and it feels like the summer box office has finally arrived this year. Most audiences are eager to see the film in the 3D version.” AGS’s two multiplexes in the city , at Villivakkam and on Rajiv Gandhi Salai (Old Mahabalipuram Road), are likely to sell over 10,000 tickets for the film by Sunday. They are having the film on seven screens, with shows starting at 9 a.m.
At Albert theatre, Tiruvallikeni Rajini Rasigar Manram secretary ‘Baba’ D. Selvam was among those who performed the ‘milk abhishekam’ for Rajni's cutouts. They also burst crackers and played songs from his previous films before the first show commenced.
“By Sunday, we are planning to install a permanent plaque at the theatre (Albert) that will list the film career of ‘Superstar’ much like the one present at Shanti Theatre that outlines the career of Sivaji Ganesan,” Selvam added.
On social network Twitter, Rajinikanth fans were active. Some of them urged people to “rise above the hate” and enjoy the movie.
Rajinikanth himself tweeted to wish the film success.
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted that the film had taken a huge opening across Tamil Nadu and that it was likely to set new records.
One of the theatre owners in Chennai said the crucial test for ‘Kochadaiiyaan’ would come on Monday. The opening day tended to be dominated by die-hard Rajni fans. The general public would get to see the film only from Mondays and towards the end of the first week.
Rajnikanth has become the first Indian film professional to appear in different formats of moviemaking.
“My best wishes to my daughter @soundaryaarajni and the entire #Kochadaiyaan team. I am sure you all will enjoy the movie in the theatres,” Rajni wrote on his Twitter page.
The film released in nearly 6,000 screens across the world in many languages, including Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, English, Punjabi, Bengali and Bhojpuri.
The multi-million flick, the first Indian film to be shot on motion-capture technology, stars Deepika Padukone, Jackie Shroff, R Sarath Kumar and many others.
Rajinikanth’s daughter Soundarya has wielded the megaphone with double Oscar-winner A.R. Rahman scoring the music.
Rajni is the only Indian actor to star in all formats of movie-making — black and white, colour and motion capture.
