Ajith Kumar fans beat up a Vijay fan, tear his shirt at Mankatha re-release screening for waving TVK flag
Actor Ajith Kumar’s 2011 film Mankatha was re-released in theatres on Friday. While videos of barricades being put up inside theatres to curb overenthusiastic fans and of fans celebrating inside theatres keep doing the rounds, one video shows a Vijay fan being beaten up for waving a flag of the Tamil star’s political party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), during the screening.
Ajith Kumar fans beat up Vijay fan for waving TVK flag
A video circulating online shows commotion in a theatre lobby. One man is seen being beaten by many others. After a while, the mob tears his shirt off and shoves him out of the theatre as others cheer. The video shows it was taken at Pandian Cinemas in Karaikudi, with the caption stating that Ajith’s fan beat up a Vijay fan for waving a TVK flag inside the theatre. Polimer News also confirmed details of the incident.
“Shame for ajith fans,” commented one person, reacting to the video. Another wrote, “Paavam bro.” Some tagged the handles of the Tamil Nadu police, hoping they would take action, while an X (formerly Twitter) user pointed out that the Vijay fan looked like a ‘school boy’, pointing out that it was wrong to beat him up. It is unknown whether a case has been filed in connection with the incident.
Meanwhile, another video from Tamil Nadu, taken at a theatre, shows barricades set up inside to keep Ajith’s fans under control. Security can also be seen standing near the barricades, keeping fans back from the theatre screen as they go wild and throw confetti.
Mankatha re-release overtakes Ghilli record
Vijay’s 2004 film Ghilli held the record for a South Indian film re-release till recently, when it was overtaken by Baahubali: The Epic’s ₹39.5 crore haul in India.
The opening day record for a re-release Tamil film has been broken by Mankatha, which grossed ₹4.1 crore on its opening day, according to Pinkvilla. It took over Ghilli’s ₹4 crore opening day record for the re-release by a hair’s breadth. It remains to be seen whether Mankatha will surpass Ghilli’s re-release collection of ₹20 crore.
Vijay’s Jana Nayagan was scheduled to release in theatres on January 9 ahead of Pongal, but the release was postponed. It has yet to be certified by the CBFC. A hearing for the case between CBFC and the film’s producers is scheduled at the Madras HC on January 27.
