As I was driving down to work today I saw this huge crowd gathered around the Innovative multiplex on the ring road. I then remembered that today Rajnikants new movie 'Sivaji' has been released. It reminded me of the day when I watched his previous movie 'Chandramukhi' in London, UK. I really didn’t want to go for it since I do not understand Tamil that much, but my friends insisted saying that it would be a great experience! And it truly was.
It was the First Day First show ticket. We were somewhere in East Ham (which has a large Tamil population) and there was this theatre that was owned by a Pakistani. My friend had paid 16 pounds for each ticket which is phenomenal even by UK standards (an average movie costs about 8 pounds). There was this large crowd of Rajni fans mostly Indians, Sri Lankans and a couple of Phirangs as well at the hall almost an hour before the show.
So as we queued up to get into the theatre where I had a real surprise. The guy checking our ticket told me with a very straight face 'No shouting, no dancing, no throwing money, no getting up from your seats'. It was hard to believe what I was hearing. No throwing money?? I really didn’t think that people would throw money here as well!!
We then proceeded to occupy our seats and as the theatre filled up (as expected it was sold out for the full week) the excitement was palpable. The first 15-20 minutes of the movie passed by and there was no sign of Rajni. The crowd started to get restless. And then suddenly you see some give one give a kick and 5 men fly up in the air simultaneously. Then you first see his shoe and then him! Rajni is on the screen. And then all pandemonium breaks out. The whole theatre is on its feet and breaks out into cries of 'Thalaivar' (Tamil for Leader). Loads of coins are thrown at the screen and this goes on for almost 5 minutes. The theatre owner then steps in and stops the show and gives a warning to everyone to behave. Finally the crowd settled down to watch the movie with regular applause for Rajni whenever he appeared on screen. Even though I did not understand most of the movie it was still quite easy to follow with some help from my Tamil speaking friends. But as soon as we came out of the theatre, it was back to normal as the crowd dispersed in a very orderly and gentlemanly fashion. It was back to reality.
It is very difficult to explain his fans behavior. What is it that makes them go absolutely crazy while watching his movies? Is it our tendency to treat movie stars like God? I don’t know. Most of the people who were there in the theatre that day in London were part of the decent and educated genre and definitely not the Rickshaw driver types which makes it even more difficult to explain their behavior inside.
In London it’s a little easier to explain. It was a release for the people who felt stifled here considering how much of a sucker the Brits are for rules and discipline. For most, it was like going back home to India and watching it in a theatre in Chennai in the front row in stalls and they wanted to relive that experience. There was absolutely no difference. For those 3 hours it was like being in another place and another time forgetting all the worries and enjoying ourselves completely. Exactly what Indian Cinema used to be all about.
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