San Diego- USA
Last week, a wave of
euphoria swept across the globe and San Diego was no
exception. It was not a divine incarnation, not a
festival, not a sporting event and definitely not a new
invention. It was
SIVAJI-THE BOSS. After weeks of anticipation,
Superstar Rajini's blockbuster Sivaji finally stormed
into San Diego. This was the first time, premiere of a
tamil movie was screened in San Diego. Evening of June
14th was an eventful one as couple of hundred die-hard
Rajini fans lined up outside the theatre almost 2 hours
before the show began. As thalaivar with his immense
screen presence and rocking style entertained the guests
for 3 solid hours, the audience had their own
celebration converting the quiet cinema hall into a
carnival event. Hordes of emails followed the show with
rave reviews of the movie and non-stop praises of the
one and only Rajinikanth.
San Diego had to share the movie reel with Phoenix and
so the next show in San Diego was scheduled only 3 days
later. As the second show was to be screened in a much
bigger theatre with stadium seating, a number of us had
planned to watch the 2nd show. We had to go through a
gruelling 3-day waiting session before we could get a
glimpse of our thalaivar.
Slowly
the big day arrived. We had already been to the premiere
event just to experience the Rajini phenomenon without
actually watching the movie that day. Having seen the
celebration, we decided to have a bigger and a louder
one. We went to the theatre almost 2 and 1/2 hours
before the showtime and started transforming the movie
hall into a Rajini paradise. The ticket counters and the
hall were decorated with banners that shouted punch
dialogues like "Vaada Vaada Vaangikoda.. Ticketa inga
vaangikoda", "Pera keta odane chumma adhurudhu illa"
etc. Everyone in our group dressed up in blue and we
sprinted energetically to occupy a complete row at the
hall#12 at Edwards Mira Mesa 18 in San Diego. We started
distributing confetti shooters, saved a bagful for us
and we were all set for the big moment.
As
the trailers of
Sultan (An animated movie of Rajinikanth set to
release in 2008) hit the screen, the crowd was not able
to control their emotions. By the time, the titles
rolled with the inimitable fashion 'SUPERSTAR RAJINI',
the theatre almost resonated with the noise the modest
250+ crowd generated. This was an experience like no
other and only Superstar could generate such energy
levels in the audience. For the next 3 hours, we were
treated with pure Rajini magic and sheer high-quality
entertainment. Director Shankar made sure that each
frame looked like a scene out of a glossy
high-resolution post card. The rich imagery, with a
rocking A.R.Rahman score scorched the cinema hall. Staff
at the Edwards cinema hall walked in to catch a quick
glimpse, but never moved a muscle after that. Their eyes
were glued to the screen and were amazed at our
thalaivar's screen presence and the electrifying
atmosphere we generated. It was a cracker of an
experience and seemed like Diwali just got over looking
at the number of papers strewn all over the place. At
the end of the show, we felt many years younger and were
gleaming with energy.
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