An ageing don avenging his past to create a better place to live. Does this strike a chord? Well, it is not an average Poor guy-meets-rich villain and becomes-rich guy-in a single-song film.
Yes, the world is awaiting with bated breath for the release of our Superstar Rajinikanth starrer KABALI.
First of all, it is an honour and a great privilege to write about this great man and his film. Have you known someone carrying such great expectations continuously for the past 25 years?
The thing that distinguishes Rajinikanth from the rest of the film personalities is he has been doing the coveted Lead Hero role for almost all of his films.
So what is Kabali?
Kabali is an upcoming 2016 Indian Tamil language gangster-drama film written and directed by Pa. Ranjith. The film stars Rajinikanth as the title character, whilst Taiwanese actor Winston Chao, Radhika Apte, Dhansika, Dinesh Ravi, Kalaiyarasan, and John Vijay star in other pivotal roles.
Kabali is expected to be released in Tamil worldwide, along with dubbed versions in Hindi, Telugu, and Malayalam. The film will be simultaneously released in Singapore and Indonesia. A Malaysian media company, will simultaneously release the film in Malay for exclusive screening in Malaysia alongside the original Tamil version. The film will also be dubbed in Thai and Chinese, where talks are under way to simultaneously release the film in Hong Kong and China. Kabali will also premiere at the Le Grand Rex in Paris, France. The satellite rights of the film were sold to Jaya TV.
Its teaser trailer was released in April 2016 and went viral in Asia and gained 5 million views in less than 24 hours becoming the most viewed teaser in Asia. By 28 May, the Kabali teaser garnered 20 million views, making it one of the most watched Indian film teasers.
Ticket prices for the first two or three days have gone from Rs 300 to Rs 500 in many places except multiplexes in Chennai city. While corporate and IT firms have made bulk bookings, theatres restricted under a slab of Rs 120 slyly instigate viewers to buy the tickets for Rs 500, for a ‘package’ of popcorn, snacks and soft drinks along with a Kabali ticket
Ticket prices for the first two or three days have gone from Rs 300 to Rs 500 in many places except multiplexes in Chennai city. While corporate and IT firms have made bulk bookings, theatres restricted under a slab of Rs 120 slyly instigate viewers to buy the tickets for Rs 500, for a ‘package’ of popcorn, snacks and soft drinks along with a Kabali ticket
The Malaysian airline, Air Asia became an official partner for Kabali and certain AirAsia planes will be painted with a Kabali theme. The Indian financial company Muthoot Fin Corp who is also an official partner of the film produced silver coins embossed with the image of actor as cast in the film.
Airtel offers unlimited 2G services for an hour at Rs. 5, a ‘Kabali recharge pack, Kabali special caller tunes, Kabali start-up kits for new customers, an opportunity for subscribers to send SMS-wishes for Rajinikanth and a compilation of these messages into a coffee table book for the actor, a van with holographic technology for film promotions – the Kabali-Airtel package goes on.
Cadbury is tagging the 5 star chocolate with Kabali besides advertisement panels on Tamil Nadu buses plying with posters bearing the tagline `Superstar ka 5 star’ and ‘Superstar in 5 star’ besides road shows near colleges, schools and popular malls – some 18,000 Kabali-Cadbury cutouts across India.
Amazon too has caught the Kabali fever with the sale of key chains, wax statue, posters, photographs and other Kabali-memorabilia. What attracts Amazon to a south Indian film is its massive reach – dubbed versions in Chinese, Thai, Japan and Malaya.
Will this movie be similar to Rajinikanth’s much acclaimed blockbuster Basha? Will the box office records measure up to at least Enthiran, the last biggest hit of the Super Star? Lets wait and watch , so until then its KABALI DAWW !!!