Rajnikanth fans start countdown
Superstar Rajnikant and Shriya in "Sivaji". The film is the 100th Tamil film for Rajni. Produced by AVM productions and directed by Shankar, the film is expected to be released soon.
Amid speculation about the date on which Sivaji - The Boss will hit theatres, Rajnikanth fans in Kochi are busy working out strategies to give a rousing welcome to the latest film of their star. They have only one wish: somehow manage a ticket for the first day, first show.
Kumar, an ardent fan, says: "I shall like to watch it on the first day of release. There is a chance that the exhibitors may cut some scenes from the second day. Moreover, the `premiere show' is like a festival. The drama on the other side of the screen, with cheering and hooting, is a treat to watch."
How can fans stop celebrating the arrival of yet another Rajni movie? The star was last seen in a film 20 months ago in Chandramukhi. It is still drawing crowds in small centres. Box-office records were broken. Rajnikanth has been tipped as the second highest paid actor in Asia, behind the all-time favourite Jackie Chan.
"Sivaji - The Boss will rewrite box-office history. A Rajni film is special, as the actor is so dear to all of us. His style remains unchallenged," says Shanmugam, a loyal fan.
Fans have lapped up everything related to the film. Three days after the audio release, retail music shops in South India are sold out. "The A.R. Rahman-Shankar-Rajni combine has clicked. Songs from the movie are top on charts. My favourite is Athiradi sung by Rahman. Balleilakka is another foot-tapping number," says Sasi, a Government employee.
Rajnikanth fans hope that the film will be released by the third week of May. Sivaji has been in the news for long, as it has some of the high-profile names in Tamil film industry. Made under the banner of AVM Productions, the movie is directed by Tamil's highly successful director Shankar, who is teaming up with Rajnikanth for the first time. The name of A.R. Rahman makes the team more power-packed.
The lyrics are penned by Valee, Vairamuthu, Pa Vijay, and Muthukumar. K.V. Anand cranks the camera. Sujatha provides the punchy dialogues for the star. Thotta Tharani, Kollywood's respected art director, has designed the expensive sets.
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The much awaited film of Tamil Nadu is nearing release. After several postponements from April 12 to May 8 then to May 17 and finally postponed to the release date of May 26. The last three dates are all add up to the magic number of Shankar's, 8. This release date was confirmed by Ayngaran International (the international distributor) and AVM (the producer). The reason for the latest postponing of the film was due to the background score of the film being incomplete, A. R. Rahman (music director) is currently working on this.

This will be Rajinikanth's 100th Tamil language film. The film has big names Shankar (director of the 8 Filmfare Award winning Anniyan), AVM (the largest producer of films in Tamil Nadu), A. R. Rahman (word recognized due to his work in the Bombay Dreams musical) and the "Superstar" of Tamil cinema Rajinikanth.

Pyramid is expecting over Rs. 120 million in the Nizam area of Andra Pradesh from the films ticket sales. So far it has been estimated that over Rs. 1 billion has been invested in the film.