Late actor and politician Vijayakanth's 100th film, Captain Prabhakaran, is all set to be re-released in theatres this Friday. Ahead of the film's release, RK Selvamani, who helmed it, spoke to Cinema Express in an exclusive conversation. Among the many things he said, he recalled how the first day first show of the film turned into a celebration.
RK Selvamani said, "Captain Prabhakaran ran for 100 days in theatres. The film was released on April 14, but the celebrations began the night before. On April 13, around midnight, I went with a few friends—including Soundararajan, who is now Lokesh Kanagaraj’s father-in-law—to a theatre on Mount Road where we had just put up a massive banner. To our shock, a huge crowd had already gathered there, waiting overnight for the release." He added that the film's producer, Ibrahim Rowther, told him he had seen such madness only once before, for MGR’s Ulagam Sutrum Valiban in 1973.
RK Selvamani visited a few more theatres that night, one of which was in North Madras. "The atmosphere was nothing short of a festival. In North Madras, one theatre was decorated like it was hosting a temple celebration." But it was Kasi Theatre that took them by surprise and gave them an experience of a lifetime. "By the time we reached Kasi Theatre, it was already 6 am, and the entire road was jammed with traffic. Nearly 2,000 to 3,000 people had gathered for the first show before sunrise. With no online booking back then, everyone came in person to get tickets."
While one would think this was only the case before the release of the film, the craze didn't die down even after. "The frenzy didn’t end with the release; it lasted for a month. In some theatres, people who watched the film once refused to leave, demanding another show immediately. Projection operators were forced to rewind certain scenes as the crowd kept chanting ‘once more’. It didn’t feel like a film release; it felt like we had organised a manadu (conference)."
Captain Prabhakaran also stars Mansoor Ali Khan, Rupini, Livingston and Ramya Krishnan, while R. Sarathkumar appears in a cameo role. The film catapulted Vijayakanth to fame, earning him the nickname "Captain". The antagonist, Veerabhadran, played by Mansoor Ali Khan, was loosely inspired by the notorious forest outlaw Veerappan. The film's title was reportedly inspired by Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the LTTE. The movie went on to become a massive box office success.