Rajinikanth's 'Kabali' tickets sell for up to Rs5,000

July 22, 2016

Chennai, Jul 22: Fans of the wildly popular Indian film star Rajinikanth queued overnight for a 4am screening of his new movie Friday in the southern city of Chennai, where many companies abandoned hope of staff coming to work and closed for the day.

Rajinikanth

Tickets for "Kabali", which stars Rajinikanth as an ageing gangster, sold out well before the release and were changing hands on the black market for up to 5,000 rupees ($75) - a huge sum for most Indians.

The 65-year-old Tamil language cinema icon inspires an almost god-like adulation in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, where fans refer to him simply as "The Superstar".

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 adverting the movie - a tradition that derives from the ritual bathing of Hindu idols in milk.

Several companies in the city, a burgeoning IT hub, said so many staff had asked for Friday off that they had decided to simply close for the day.

"The story line is too good, it's very emotional," said one fan who had watched the 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 said news channel.

Rajinikanth famously worked as a bus conductor in the southern Indian city of Bangalore before heading to Chennai in 1973 to pursue his passion of acting.

His last major film, the science fiction epic "Endhiran", was one of India's most profitable releases ever, grossing a record-breaking $13.8 million globally on its opening weekend in 2011 - including $4.4 million in the United States 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.

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News Network
May 10,2020

New Delhi, May 10: While people across the country have been spending a lot of time at home owing to the lockdown, superstar Shah Rukh Khan on Saturday provided a unique platform for all the aspiring filmmakers to produce some 'fun, creative and... spooky' video.

The 54-year-old actor shared a statement on Instagram, detailing about the opportunity for the filmmakers to channel their inner "filmmaking ghost to make a scary indoor film with an element of horror in it."

Taking it to the captions, the 'Don' actor wrote: "Since we've all got a bit of time on our hands in quarantine, thought I can get us all to work a bit... in a fun, creative and... spooky way!"

In the post, titled with a hashtag 'SpookSRK,' the actor has listed down the rules to be followed while making the video and shared the email link to submit their work.

The 'Dilwale' actor also announced that the selected "three winners" will get a chance to video call the star himself.

Wrapping the post on a lighter note, he added: "I will be sending in my film as well...P.S - Ghosts are welcome to send their entries too."

This comes a day after the first trailer launch of Shah Rukh's new Netflix horror series 'Betaal'.

SRK's Red Chillies Entertainment is producing the horror-thriller. The new series also stars Vineet Kumar, Aahana Kumra, Suchitra Pillai, Jitendra Joshi, Manjiri Pupala, and Syna Anand.

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News Network
May 12,2020

Mumbai, May 12: Superstar Salman Khan on Tuesday released his latest romantic single "Tere Bina" featuring Jacqueline Fernandez while in quarantine at his Panvel farm house.

The actor, along with close family and friends from the industry, including Iulia Vantur, Waluscha De Sousa, is living in the farm house. This is the second song Salman has released amid the coronavirus pandemic, after "Pyaar Karona."

"About seven weeks ago, when we came to the farm, we didn't know we will be here under a lockdown. So we wanted to do things to keep ourselves busy. That's when we decided to do these songs. We launched 'Pyaar Karona' and now, we are launching 'Tere Bina'," Salman said in a statement.

The song, sung and directed by Salman, is composed by his friend Ajay Bhatia and written by Shab bir Ahmed.

The actor said he had the song "Tere Bina" with him for quite a while but because it wasn't fitting into any of his film, he decided to release it now.

Jacqueline said she didn't think they would be able to shoot the song, which they finished in four days of evening shoots, with such limitations.

"We are used to shooting songs on a large stage with grand production costs. There are costumes, hair, make up. All of a sudden, we find ourselves with a team of three people. For the first time, I was checking lighting and moving props around. It was a great experience and it taught us how to make the most of what we have," she said.

Salman recently sent out food packets and ration from his farm house to those affected by the lockdown.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

Chennai, Jul 30: Filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli on Wednesday said he and his family members have tested positive for coronavirus and are currently quarantined at home.

The director, best known for his epic fantasy hit Baahubali series, said they got tested after they developed mild fever recently which subsided by itself.

“My family members and I developed a slight fever few days ago. It subsided by itself but we got tested nevertheless. The result has shown a mild COVID positive today. We have home quarantined as prescribed by the doctors (sic)” he said.

In a subsequent tweet, Rajamouli said he and his kin are asymptomatic and “feeling better”. They are, however, following all the precautions and instructions.

“Just waiting to develop antibodies so that we can donate our plasma,” he added.

Before the coronavirus-induced nationwide lockdown was announced in March, the filmmaker was working on his upcoming period action drama Rise Roar Revolt.

The Telugu film, featuring actors Ram Charan and NTR Jr in the lead, is a fictional tale based on the lives of two freedom fighters in early 20th century.

Andhra Pradesh witnessed its worst single day spike of coronavirus on Wednesday, 10,000 plus cases, as the other southern states, including Tamil Nadu and Karnataka also reported high daily numbers, although they saw a dip in the infections.

The cumulative tally of southern states — AP, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Kerala and the Union Territory of Puducherry was 24,855 on Wednesday.

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