Robot opens to full house at 4am
CHENNAI/MUMBAI: Why would someone go to a theatre at 5am to watch a Rajinikanth movie? Because tickets were not available for the 4am show. Chennai shut shop early on Thursday over worries on which way the Ayodhya verdict would swing, but now it seems it was only to queue up before daybreak for the first day, first show of ‘ Enthiran (Robot)’.
Thousands jostled for an elusive ticket as theatres in Rajini city began screening the film on Friday before the crack of dawn. While the first show at the city’s Rakki Cinemas in Ambattur was at 4am, it was at 5.45am at the AGS Cinemas in Villivakkam and 6 am at Kasi Theatre. Even national exhibitors like PVR cinemas and Inox began shows in Chennai around 8am. Tickets were reportedly being sold in the black market at up to Rs 5,000 each.
Even in Mumbai, Bollywood took a backseat as thousands of Rajini worshippers lined up outside Aurora theatre where prints of the film were brought after being taken to a temple in a chariot.
The movie looks set to smash box-office records. Shyam Shroff, its Bombay territory distributor says, “It will collect double its cost of production” (at Rs 160 crore, it’s India’s most expensive movie). Trade analyst Amod Mehra says, “Sivaji made Rs 200 crore, Robot will cross that.”
