50-ft Vijay cut-out collapses in Kerala, theatre files complaint against fan group

Four bikes have been damaged because of the incident and the theatre staff believe the cut-out collapsed because of the 'paal abhishekam'.
50-ft Vijay cut-out collapses in Kerala, theatre files complaint against fan group
50-ft Vijay cut-out collapses in Kerala, theatre files complaint against fan group

At 5 am on Tuesday, a 50-foot fan made cut-out of actor Vijay stood tall before the Ganga Theatre complex in Mamam, Attingal, while fans performed a ‘paal abhishekam’ ahead of the FDFS (first day first show) of his film Sarkar. Four hours later, however, half of the cut-out was seen dangling from the scaffolding, with the upper body crashing into the theatre’s premises while the cardboard legs stayed put.

The tumbling cut-out damaged 4 bikes parked inside the theatre and the building’s glass windows. However, no movie-goers or passersby were reported to be injured.

Following the cut-out’s collapse, the Ganga Theatre staff rang up the fire force and police who inspected the site. A complaint has also been registered against ‘Vijay Fans Makkal Aykyan Attingal area’ - a  fans group operating in the locality.

“The said fans association is not part of our theatre and the cut-out was not erected with our permission. It was outside the premises. Fortunately, nobody was hurt as a movie was running and everyone was inside the cinema hall. We have three halls in our complex and the building which suffered damages is Yamuna - Kauvery. We have filed a complaint and agreed to settle it out of court if the association pays for all the damages. They have taken the 4 bikes to fix now,” said Sajeev Padmakumar, assistant manager of the theatre complex.

The cardboard and flex cut-out of Vijay in his Sarkar look of blue jeans, brown coat, tie and shades, was supported with scaffolding. However, theatre staff suspect that a ‘paal abhishekam’ - a ritual where fans pour milk and do a pooja for the cut-out - done before the early morning fans' show could have unsettled the scaffolding and lead to the collapse.

“At 5 am, fans were climbing on to the cutout, before the early morning fans' show. There was a gentle breeze throughout the morning and this could have resulted in the cut-out crashing,” Sajeev added.

Attingal DySP Anilkumar told TNM that no case has yet been registered, as an out of court settlement was being discussed.

“We inspected the site immediately and cleared the cut-out. But we haven’t registered a case,” he said.

Tamil actor Vijay enjoys a tremendous following in Kerala and fans celebrated the release of Sarkar by erecting huge cut-outs of the actor. Interestingly, the tallest ever cut-out of the Tamil actor (175-feet) was also erected in the state by the Kollam Nanbans Fan club. The club got Malayalam actor Sunny Wayne to inaugurate the cut-out and even donated Rs 1 lakh for social service. 

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