Rajinikanth's chitti avatar back in cinema's with '2.O', charms fans

Chennai: Superstar Rajinikanth's much awaited 3D science fiction trilingual film "2.O", which brings backs robot Chitti, was released Thursday amid frenzied expectations from his fans and followers.

A sequel to 2010 blockbuster "Enthiran", "2.O" by ace director Shankar saw fans flocking to movie halls as early as 4 AM. The halls were decorated with giant sized cut-outs and posters of Rajinikanth welcoming the fans. Touted to be one of the most expensive films, reportedly about Rs 550 crore, "2.O" has world class VFX and 3D and revolves around Rajinikanth's dual avatars as scientist Vaseegaran and the reloaded robot 'Chitti' as they battle 'villain' Akshay Kumar. 

Amy Jackson also plays a key role as a robot. Music for the film is scored by Oscar-winning composer A R Rahman. In keeping with a typical Rajinikanth's movies, fans burst crackers, poured milk to the actor's cut-outs while several others lighted camphor on their palms as a mark of their reverence. A fan Abinesh tweeted saying "...watched #2Point O, it was simply a top notch." He lauded the clarity and brightness of the film. 

Director Shankar visited theatres including Vetri here during the movie's screening. Another fan tweeted,"What a performance from Thalaivar @rajinikanth as 2.O is something remarkable." @NikileshSurya of Rohini silver screens said in his twitter handle "#2Point0 hours before release is the highest pre-booked movie of the year with more than 22k tickets sold @RohiniSilverScr Blockbuster opening for a non-holiday end of the month exam time release!! Thalaivar! Actor Simran tweeted, "Congratulations on #2PointO Marvellous creation it is! Social message+Tremendous graphic.@rajinikanth sir this is Ultimate! Big salute to @shankarshanmugh sir! @akshaykumar joins the league making it an entertaining visual treat. 

Thoroughly enjoyed & watched it with my kids." A publicist of the movie told PTI that the film --dubbed in Hindi and Telugu -- has been released in over 10,000 screens across the world. Lyca Productions, the film's producers, said "2.O", also available in 2D format was also released in Pakistan, Indonesia and Africa. 

The movie released in Mumbai with similar fanfare as fans flocked to theatres as early as 3.30 in the morning to catch the first day first show of the film, which made it to movie screens after some delay. Fans, who came from far off places like Navi Mumbai and Virar, performed a small aarti before entering the screen to watch their Thalaivar on screen. President of Maharashtra State Head Rajini Fans Welfare Association, Thalapathi SK Athimoolam said the organisation planned to make the film's release a grand event, just like all Rajinikanth movies. 

At IMAX Wadala, Rajinikanth fans took out a rath yatra where a cardboard of the megastar was carried in a small carriage. People were seen entering the carriage and bowing down in front of their idol, a lot of them wearing T-shirts with Rajinikanth's picture imprinted on them. Before the 6 AM show, fans performed 'abhishek' on a 69-feet-long cut-out of Rajinikanth, a ritual that gets repeated with every new release of the superstar. At the Aurora cinema, hub for south Indian movie screenings, several pamphlets of Rajinikanth as robot Chitti hung from ropes outside the theatre as part of the decorations to celebrate the film.