HIGH EXPECTATIONS: Crowds at a theatre in the city on Sunday. — PHOTO: V. Ganesan

CHENNAI: Fans turned up in huge numbers on Sunday — in some theatres as early as 6 a.m. — to make advanced bookings for the much-awaited `Superstar' Rajinikanth-starrer `Sivaji'. Serpentine queues had formed by 7.30 a.m. in front of most theatres scheduled to screen the movie from June 15.

Though it was advertised that the bookings would begin on Sunday, the actor's fans' associations seemed to have blocked several shows for the first weekend. AVM Rajeshwari in Vadapalani, the theatre owned by the film's production house, displayed a message that the first three days had been blocked by the fans' associations. Several fans were disappointed that the coveted `first-day-first-show' tickets were not available.

At Udhayam Theatre complex in Ashok Nagar, more than 500 persons had gathered by 7.30 a.m. They had formed a queue more than 500-metres long and several of the actor's die-hard fans did not mind joining in.

Police were seen regulating the crowd in front of the Abirami Megamall in Purasawalkam. The theatre complex proprietor `Abirami' Ramanathan was seen supervising the queues. Mr.Ramanathan, incidentally, is also the distributor for the film in Chennai region. According to trade reports, he had paid close to Rs.6.5 crore, a record for any film in the circle. `Sivaji' is expected to be released in 18 theatres in the city. This should facilitate in one go an estimated 15,000 ticket-holders to watch the near-simultaneous screenings across the city.

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