Rajinikanth’s screen presence may draw crowds to theatres, but for some of his most ardent admirers, celebrating a new release begins with a visit to the temple. As the superstar’s much-awaited Jailer 2 arrived in theatres on Thursday, fans across Tamil Nadu turned to religious rituals to pray for the film’s success and the actor’s well-being.

In Kovilpatti, fans performed angapradakshinam at the Sorna Malai Kathirvel Murugan Temple, rolling their bodies around the temple premises as an act of devotion. Similar rituals were reported in Madurai, where Rajinikanth’s admirers offered prayers at the Veyil Vandha Amman Temple in Thiruparankundram. The devotees also performed mann soru, a ritual in which food is eaten directly from the ground, as part of their vows. Their prayers were for Jailer 2 to emerge as a major success and for Rajinikanth to enjoy good health and a long life.

In another instance of the actor’s devoted following, Karthik, a fan from Thirumangalam near Madurai who has built a temple dedicated to Rajinikanth at his residence, organised special prayers ahead of the film’s release. Karthik and other devotees offered prayers, broke coconuts and cut a cake bearing images of the actor at the Arulmigu Rajini Temple. Speaking to ANI, Karthik expressed confidence that the sequel would surpass the box-office performance of its predecessor, describing Rajinikanth as the star who creates records and breaks them through his own films. He also compared the release-day excitement to Deepavali and Pongal.

Jailer 2 sees Rajinikanth reunite with director Nelson after the success of their 2023 action drama Jailer. The sequel brings back the actor as retired jailer “Tiger” Muthuvel Pandian, who returns to action to investigate a larger criminal syndicate following the events of the first film. Produced by Kalanithi Maran under the Sun Pictures banner, the film also features returning cast members Ramya Krishnan, Mohanlal, Shivarajkumar, Mirnaa Menon, Yogi Babu and Jaffer Saadiq. New additions include SJ Suryah, Vidya Balan, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Jatin Sarna, Meghana Raj Sarja and others. Anirudh Ravichander returns as composer, with Nelson writing and directing the sequel. The film released in theatres worldwide on October 15.