Chennai, 14 Aug

Firecrackers, drums, sweets, confetti, cake, milk and so on. Rajinikanth fans on Thursday went all out in their celebration of the 50th anniversary of their favourite superstar and the arrival of his new movie 'Coolie'.

Rajinikanth debuted with K Balachander's Tamil movie Apoorva Raagangal, which released on 15 August, 1975. The film also starred Kamal Haasan, Sunddarrajan, Srividya and Jayasudha.

Crowds, mostly ardent fans of the star, swelled across cinema theatres to catch the first glimpse of Rajinikanth in his new avatar of a 'Coolie' who takes on bad guys in his quintessential style in the Lokesh Kanagraj directorial.

The crowd outside Chennai's Rohini theatres erupted in joy as they welcomed the new movie, showering the venue with colourful confetti and breaking into energetic dances to the rhythmic beats of the dhol, turning the atmosphere into a festival.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin reportedly watched a special screening of the movie, produced by Sun Pictures on Wednesday.

Actors Dhanush and Sivakarthikeyan were among the Tamil stars to watch the film on its release day here.

After catching the first-day-first-show of the movie, a fan said, "If Thalaivar comes on screen, it is enough... Lokesh Kanagaraj has directed well. Nagarjuna has performed tremendously."

Another die-hard fan said, "The movie was great, especially the climax scenes. There is no lag in the film. The music and songs were also nice, Anirudh as usual has given his best."

Similar scenes unfolded in Karnataka, where in the state capital Bengaluru, fans greeted Rajinikanth’s new movie by rallying outside Mukunda Theatre for the first-day, first-show.

From the early hours, the atmosphere was electric — Thalaivar banners fluttered, paper showers filled the morning sky, band sets played loud and proud, and jubilant crowds hailed him as their one and only superstar.

Filmmaker Karthik Subbaraj, who worked with Rajinikanth for his 2019 hit Petta, was among those who watched Coolie in the morning.

"It is always a pleasure to watch Rajini sir on screen," he told PTI.

'Coolie' marks Rajinikanth's first collaboration with Kanagaraj, the eccentric director behind hits such as Karthi's Kaithi, Vijay's Master and Leo, and Kamal Haasan's Vikram.

The star-studded cast includes Soubin Shahir, Upendra, Shruti Haasan, Sathyaraj with Nagarjuna as antagonist and Bollywood star Aamir Khan in a special appearance.

 'Coolie' is Rajinikanth's 171st film as a lead actor and releases 50 years after Apoorva Raagangal.

In the 1975 film, which released on Independence Day, Rajinikanth had a minor appearance alongside Kamal Haasan, Sundarrajan, Srividya and Jayasudha.