We were one step away from Friday, 22 July being declared a national holiday. For anyone who missed out on the craziness which seems to have gripped Rajinikanth fans all over the world – Friday was the day the Tamil actor’s latest film Kabali hit theatres in India.
Additionally, 20 July saw illegal Kabali downloads becoming available online. This wasn’t the first time scenes from a movie were leaked online. However, what sent Twitter on a field trip was the fact that on 21 July, Kickass Torrents, the website for pirated content download was shut down.
Popular torrent hosting site KickassTorrents (or kat.cr) was taken down after its alleged owner was arrested on charges of copyright infringement in Poland. The man in question is 30-year-old Artem Vaulin, who was arrested by the Polish authorities on a request made by the US.
This is how Twitter responded to the these developments:
When Rajini Finished Piracy
Kabali Obsession Level: Rajinikanth
Guess Who Just Joined the Kabali Fan Club?
When Desperate Pleas for Tickets Hit the Internet
Cities in India woke up on Friday to the loud cheer and celebrations of the release of the long-awaited Kabali. The movie was not only celebrated by Rajini fans in India but Rajini bhkats from Japan flew all the way to Chennai to catch the action.
Special flights from Bengaluru to Chennai allowed people to fly Kabali style and catch the first day, first show of the movie. People gathered at cinema halls at 2 am and offered litres of milk to Rajini posters to express their excitement.
In Mumbai, the celebrations for the film’s release started from 6 AM in the morning on Friday, when fans took a 66-feet poster of Rajinikanth to the temple for blessings in Matunga.
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