The ‘first day, first show’ of actor Ajith’s Thunivu by his fans on Wednesday turned tragic when a 19-year-old youth fell from atop a tanker lorry on which he had climbed to celebrate the movie’s release at a cinema hall.
Bharath Kumar was part of a group which were celebrating the release of Thunivu (Brave) at the Rohini Cinema Complex in Koyambedu in the wee hours of Wednesday. The fans of Ajith have been getting ready to celebrate the movie’s release for the last few months as it is directly clashing with Varisu of another popular actor Vijay.
The incident took place at around 1 am when Kumar and a few others climbed atop a tanker lorry that was passing the area and began dancing. However, Kumar fell from the lorry after losing his balance and succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital here where he was rushed after the fall.
“The tanker lorry was moving slowly after people climbed on top of it. But Kumar fell from it after losing balance,” police said, adding that several fans stopped vehicles that were crossing the area and were dancing on top of them.
Unruly behaviour by fans of both actors was received from several parts of the state, including in Chennai, Coimbatore, and Salem on Wednesday as Varisu and Thunivu opened to full houses. Fans performing pal abhisekham on the day of the release is common, but incidents of tearing of banners and seats in theatres were reported this time.
Sources said fans of an actor damaged nearly 200 seats of a cinema hall in Chennai during the FDFS celebrations on Wednesday. In Salem, fans threw open the gates of a cinema hall resulting in a stampede-like situation while glasses were broken at several theatres in the state.
In a few places, the police had to intervene and disperse the crowd by using mild force. This is for the first time in nine years that films of the two biggest grossers of the Tamil film industry are released on the same day.
The actors clashed at the box office last in 2014 when Ajith’s Veeram and Vijay’s Jilla which had Malayalam superstar Mohanlal too released on January 10 and January 9 respectively. And this is the 13th time, the two actors are fighting for space in theatres after they began their careers in the film industry in the 1990s.
Thunivu, bankrolled by Bollywood producer Boney Kapoor, is directed by H Vinoth, while Varisu is helmed by Telugu director Vamshi Paidipally and produced by Sri Venkateswara Creations and PVP Cinema.
Vijay and Ajith maintain they are friends, but their fans consider them as rivals.