Fans of the wildly popular Indian film star Rajinikanth lined up overnight for a 4am screening of his new movie yesterday in the southern city of Chennai, where many companies abandoned hope of staff coming to work and closed for the day.
Tickets for Kabali, which stars Rajinikanth as an aging gangster, sold out well before the release and were changing hands on the black market for up to 5,000 rupees (US$75) — a huge sum for most Indians.
The 65-year-old Tamil-language cinema icon inspires adulation in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, where fans refer to him simply as “The Superstar.”
Photo: AP
Fans cut their hair in the style of Rajinikanth’s character and some even had his face tattooed on their arms as they awaited the release.
In Chennai fans set off firecrackers, gave out sweets and poured milk over giant posters advertising the movie — a tradition that derives from the ritual bathing of Hindu idols in milk.
Several companies in the city, a burgeoning information-technology hub, said so many staff had asked for the day off that they had decided to simply close for the day.
“The storyline is too good; it’s very emotional,” said one fan who had watched a 4am screening in Chennai.
Another fan in Mumbai called the movie “brilliantly awesome.”
“It has emotions, it has fights, it has all those things that a Rajini fan expects and it has those super moments where every Rajini fan will start clapping and whistling. Absolutely no disappointment,” he told the NDTV news channel.
Rajinikanth worked as a bus conductor in the southern Indian city of Bangalore before heading to Chennai in 1973 to pursue acting.
His last major film, science-fiction epic Endhiran, was one of India’s most profitable releases ever, grossing a record-breaking US$13.8 million globally on its opening weekend in 2011 — including US$4.4 million in the US alone.
Its performance stoked global ambitions for the Tamil-language film industry, nicknamed “Kollywood” after the Kodambakkam District of Chennai, where many studios are based.
Most of Tamil Nadu’s chief ministers have had connections to the industry and the incumbent, Jayalalitha Jayaram, was once a leading actress.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number