Fans go gaga over Rajinikanth's new '2.0' release

Chennai city woke up early on Thursday as superstar Rajinikanth's latest film 2.0 released amid frantic celebrations by his fans outside the cinema halls with shows scheduled as early as 4 am.

It almost seemed like a mini Diwali celebration outside movie theatres in the city with fans busting crackers, dancing to dhol beats and feeding sweets to each other. Huge cut-outs and posters of the superstar welcomed the audience. In addition, milk abhishekam was done as is the norm for any mass hero's mega release these days. Special prayers were also conducted at several temples, and ardent fans of the 'Superstar' offered free food for the movie's success.

In Chennai, the film is set a new record with 352 shows in a day. Several theatres in the city including GK Cinemas, Vettri and Kasi theatres had their first show at 4 am, especially for the actor's fan club members.

At Kasi theatres in Ekkatuthangal, the crew of 2.0, including Shankar, producer Subaskaran of Lyca besides audiographer Resul Pookutty, came to watch the movie this morning.

A die-hard Rajini fan Thalapathi said, "This was the day we were waiting for. We were a bit disappointed with his last couple of outings — Kabali and Kaala. Then came 2.0 to enthuse our spirits. Rajinikanth as macho man uttering punch lines with his usual style and swag was a treat to watch."

K Saravanan, a fan of the actor said that he had purchased the ticket for Rs 1,500 for the first day first show at Vettri Theatre. "There is nothing like watching Thalaivar's movie on the first day first show," he said.

'2.0' brings Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar, and Director Shankar together for the first time and is a sequel of 2010 film 'Enthiran', which had released in Hindi as 'Robot'.