Rajinikanth’s Kaala sees partial release in Karnataka

BENGALURU: Fear of vandalism trumped a Karnataka high court order and a fervent appeal from the ‘super star’ himself, as the Rajinikanth-starrer Kaala was screened only in some theaters in the city and pockets of the state on Thursday. About 6,000 police personnel were posted on security duty at theatres in Bengaluru, yet none of them scheduled a morning show of the film, leaving hundreds of fans disappointed and angry.
Some of the anger dissipated by the afternoon in Bengaluru as screens operated by Inox Cinemas screened the film. Lido had a 2.35pm show, while the one in Garuda had a 3.20pm show. Inox staffers revealed that the shows “ran to a full house” and the audience “enjoyed the film”. More than 20 screens in Mangaluru and another 10 across other districts screened the movie, but there was little cheer for Rajini fans and cinemagoers in most of the other districts.

R S Srinivas, the movie’s distributor in Karnataka (except Ballari), told TOI: “It is disappointing that there were no morning shows, but theatres began screening the film in the afternoon. By end of day we had about 50 screens and we are confident of another 125 screens showing it from tomorrow (Friday) morning.” Srinivas could not immediately share box office collection figures.

In Bengaluru alone, 35 platoons of Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP), 25 platoons of City Armed Reserve (CAR) and a little more than 4,000 city police personnel were pressed into action to ensure no untoward incident occurred, especially in the backdrop of the high court direction to the state government to provide protection to theatres and cinemagoers.

Still, exhibitors, especially single-screen owners, refrained from screening the film even in the evening, while the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) continued to claim that it had not ordered “a ban on the film”.

“It is not just about the incidents that can happen outside,” one exhibitor said. “We were concerned about the damage that they could cause inside the theatre.”

Hundreds of fans and cinemagoers had reached theatres early in the morning, assuming that the movie would be screened after the high court order. Pro-Kannada activists put paid to those assumptions as they gathered outside several theatres in the morning and exhibitors canceled shows.

Activists also staged a protest outside Town Hall here, and demanded that the movie be banned. The police took dozens of protesters including their leader Vatal Nagaraj into custody. They were released later.

“How many days can the police keep arresting us and where will they take us? We will return to protest,” a defiant Nagaraj warned.

Srinivas claimed Mangaluru had the most shows and exuded confidence of the film picking up steam over the next few days.