Amid bursting crackers, dance and drum beats, and giant hoardings outside theatres, Rajinikanth’s latest film ‘Jailer’ hit screens worldwide on Thursday in a festive spirit.

The Nelson Dilipkumar-directed movie marks the return of Kollywood superstar to the silver screen after a gap of two years. His previous film, Annaatthe, was released in 2021. Die-hard Rajinikanth fans, film buffs, and family audiences flocked to theatres right from early morning.

The film, which has an ensemble of characters including Malayalam film star Mohanlal, Kannada actor Shiva Rajkumar, and Bollywood star Jackie Shroff, released on over 900 screens in Tamil Nadu alone. The film is bankrolled by Sun Pictures.

Veteran film distributor and head of Tamil Nadu’s Theatre Owners Association, Tiruppur Subramaniam, said the film has a phenomenal opening across the country, especially in the South. “This is biggest theatrical release after Vijay’s Varisu and Ajith’s Thunivu for Pongal in January. This will surely be a big boost to theatre operators,” he added.  

According to film trade analyst Ramesh Bala, Jailer’s ($1,158,000) US box office collection on day one has crossed the lifetime collections of Ajith’s Varisu ($1,141,590).

Rajini fever

The Rajini mania took over corporate India too. From announcing holidays on the release date to booking bulk tickets for their employees, corporate India also paid tribute to their ‘Thalaivar’. 

Girish Mathrubootham, CEO of NASDAQ-listed SaaS firm Freshworks, took to X, formerly Twitter, to announce that the company has booked 2,200 tickets for its employees across seven screens. A self-confessed Rajinikanth fan, Mathrubootham earlier declared leave for his employees to watch Rajinikanth’s 2016 film ‘Kabali’.

Bike-taxi and auto services aggregator Rapido will also hold an exclusive screening of Jailer for its 500-plus auto captains in Chennai on August 12.

Several companies in Chennai and Bengaluru declared a holiday to celebrate the movie’s release.