Fan frenzy builds up

Chennai: It is that time of the year when the worn out façade of a cinema hall is attended to by fans with flex banners and cut-outs of their favourite stars to cover them up. By the time you read this, ardent fans of Rajinikanth would have already watched the movie, courtesy the 1 am show in select theatres in the city. However, fan preparations for the release started a week ago.

At Albert theatre in Egmore, considered Rajinikanth’s fort, his ardent fan Gokulam M. Giri (44) is busy overseeing the final arrangements for his Thalaivar’s release. President of the Triplicane area Rajini fan club, this courier in-charge at a private bank in the city has availed of leave from work for the past five days just to make sure that the preparations are in order. The B.A. graduate has been doing this for the past 10 years. “Whatever job we have, we put them on hold during Thalaivar’s movie release,” he said.

When asked casually how much is being spent on the banners and cut-outs, he spells out - '50,000 before his friend R. Sakthivel interrupts him, asking him why he has to share these details. Sakthivel, like Giri, also claims to be an ardent fan of the actor. The bespectacled 41-year-old was busy clicking pictures of the 25 feet banner - the giant PVC sheet, which had mug shots of around 20 fans (including him) in it with a life-size Rajini portrait wishing all success for the movie.

These pictures in his phone will be the memorabilia for which he had to part with a few thousand rupees from his monthly budget. “All members of the fan club contribute a sum for the pre-release celebrations which includes banners, cut-outs and posters,” says Giri, adding that they have spent close to '1 lakh this time. On the day of the release, they have roped in a band to play for the first show, which cost them close to Rs10,000.

When asked if his family go along with his spending on this, he says with a sheepish grin, “Obviously, they express contempt, but this has become so much a part of our system that we can’t help but do it.”At Udhayam complex, near Ashok pillar, members of the T. Nagar fan club were busy arbitrating with a representative from the theatre management. The bone of contention was the space to tie up their banner. G. Dayalan (39), an auto driver, returns saying, “It’s not like the old times.

These people are not cooperating.” Dayalan along with four of his friends with whom he grew up, have been busy for the past three days setting up banners and pasting posters. The group which constitutes a real estate broker, welder, painter and a scrap shop dealer among them, including Dayalan, have spent more than Rs20,000 so far.

“Thalaivar doesn’t want us to do all this,” says Dayalan with one hand on the banner. “But, we cannot do away with customs just like these, can we?” he asks. Dayalan reminisces about the days in the ‘90s when movie releases were celebrated with much fervour unlike now. “Fans used to set up arches at the entrance of the theatre with plantain trees on both sides as if it was a wedding hall,” he recalled.

In Albert theatre, however, a similar arrangement at the cost of '50,000 is being done, courtesy the Triplicane area fans. But like a person who tried for tickets for Rajini’s movie Lingaa scorned, “Thalaivar padam release maariye illa.”