“Kabali” fever has hit Malaysia. Not only posters on the movie have been placed all over town but also two giant-sized cardboard figures of Rajinikanth, the main actor of the film, have also been placed at Federal Cinemax where the premiere show will be screened.
To add to the Kabali fever, two entrepreneurs have started selling Kabali T-shirts that feature Rajinikanth as Kabali himself.
The movie’s hit song “Nerupuda” hit the markets via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram several months ago in conjunction with the lauching of the movie.
Being a hardcore fan of the 65-year-old actor, entrepreneur Mugen Rao has sold a total of 450 white cotton T-shirts featuring the stylish Rajinikanth and the movie’s hit song “Nerupuda”, which loosely means “He’s like fire.”
The 21-year-old actor-cum-singer said he wanted to create a brand for the Tamil film legend and dedicated the silkscreen printing T-shirt to the most awaited film of 2016.
“IPP Studios took a week to design the T-shirt. I took a week to gather orders, and one week to print the T-shirts in Malacca before delivering it to my customers,” he told Bernama.
Mugen said the orders for the RM25 T-shirt also came from Rajinikanth fans in Singapore.
In “Kabali”, Rajinikanth, whose real name is Shivaji Rao, plays the role of a don in Malaysia known as Kabaliswaran, from which the movie gets its name.
This 159th movie of Rajinikanth’s, first drew the attention of Malaysians, especially Malay movie fans, when prominent local actors Rosyam Nor, Norman Hakim, Zack Taipan, Tony Kassim and popular Taiwan actor Winston Chao were offered roles in the movie.
Malik Streams Production and Distribution will release the film in Malay for exclusive screening in Malaysia alongside the original Tamil version.
Another entrepreneur, V Selvie or fondly known as V-Sha, has sold about 50 Kabali T-shirts for RM50 each, including postage, through her online business V-Licious Shoppes.
The former THR Raaga radio announcer said: “It is interesting to see Malaysia has so many Rajinikanth’s fans and everyone, from all walks of life, is eagerly waiting to welcome the ‘Kabali’ release this week.
“Since I started to open orders a month ago, many people have been enthusiastic in ordering and wearing the T-shirt, which was printed in several colours such as black, white and grey.”
Meanwhile, project manager for the movie, T Veerasegar, said the premiere of the movie would be held today at the Federal Cinema in Kuala Lumpur and the show, by invitation only, would be attended by Indian film actress Dhansika, who plays the role of Rajinikanth’s daughter in the film.
“The movie will hit the cinemas on Friday (July 22) simultaneously worldwide and tickets will be sold on that day. The first show will be screened on Thursday midnight,” he said.
Veerasegar, who is also the manager for Malik Streams Corporation Sdn Bhd, said the premiere will be retro-styled with 900 seats.
He revealed that the movie would be released in 480 cinemas throughout the country while adding that the Malay version of “Kabali” would be screened on July 29 with the premiere on July 28.
“Kabali” will also premiere at the Le Grand Rex in Paris, France.