CHENNAI: On July 22, fans of superstar Rajinikanth working in Tamil Nadu’s capital will wish they were employed at a startup.As the opening date of the latest Rajinistarrer Kabali nears, city startups are all prepped to welcome the much-anticipated movie in style. Most are not ready to settle for anything less than a 'first day first show (FDFS)'.Fan-employers of the 'Thalaivar' (leader) are booking entire cinema halls for their employees, making fans outside the startup ecosystem go green with envy.At online customer support software provider FreshDesk, it is becoming a tradition that when a Rajinikanth movie is released, the entire office heads to watch it.Girish Mathrubootham, who cofounded the company exactly a week after the release in 2010 of Rajini blockbuster Enthiran, took the entire office to watch Kochadaiiyaan and Lingaa when they were released in 2014. He is not disappointing his team this time too."We are planning to take our employees (to watch the movie) on the Saturday after the release and are in talks with Satyam Cinemas. We are looking to accommodate everyone at the main screen which has a capacity of almost 600 people ," said Vignesh Vijayakumar, who heads marketing at FreshDesk.Rajinikanth, born Shivaji Rao Gaekwad in Bengaluru , has a cult following among Tamil movie fans.He is the most popular actor in Tamil Nadu today and has legions of fans in Southeast Asia and Japan.A former bus conductor, he has acted in some 170 movies and was awarded the country's second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan, this year.Every movie release of his is accompanied by hype, and frenzied fans make a beeline to catch the first show. At hyperlocal delivery website Oyethere.com, founder S Shriram has booked two Inox screens for Kabali, an eponymous gangster-drama.Shriram, who started the practice in 2007 by booking an auditorium for Sivaji after failing to get four tickets for the movie, has continued with it for other Rajini starrers like Kuselan, Enthiranand Lingaa. This time the offer has been extended to customers and staff as well."Starting tomorrow, people who shop with us will get confirmed movie tickets for July 23 or 24. All my employees will be taken for the Sunday show with their families," said Shriram, who has planned "a Friday 5 am darshan" for himself.At digital media marketing startup TheSocialPeople, the 35-member team is planning to have a Rajinikanth costume day on July 21 when everybody would come dressed up as a character from one of his films."People are excited already. This has brought a lot of positive energy," said Viral Thaker, the CEO. Bringing more bliss to his team, July 22 has been declared an off-day for the company.Suresh Sambandam, CEO at software product company Orangescape, has not yet confirmed a holiday, but is anticipating that it would end up as one. "We are aiming for 100 tickets for the 6 am show on Friday. It wasn't planned initially, but now Rajinikanth has forced us to plan it," he quips.Fan relationship management startup Fantain Sports has dedicated its analytics engine to come up with 'Kabali sentiment', an infographic on the mood of the people around the movie."Internally we are planning contests among employees. They will have to identify the name of the film based on the dialogue." The winner receives four tickets and the runner-up gets two," said Anshuman Dutta, senior manager at Fantain. However, for all startups the release is not just about having holidays or grabbing an FDFS.With the frenzy catching on, a few have discovered fantastic opportunities to run promos and campaigns.Vehicle service startup GoBumpr has not only obtained FDFS tickets for its employees and interns, but has also been running a social media campaign to 'Kabali-fy your car or vehicle'. "The idea is to spread the message that if good care is given to your vehicle, it can be like the superstar who maintains his charisma even at the age of 65," said Sundar Nateshan, cofounder of the startup.Kabali tees and mugs are a rage and merchandise site CoverItUp shows its Kabali t-shirts as 'sold out' already.Film news content curation platform Filmify, which launched its news content curation platform on the day of Kabali's teaser release and its movie merchandise platform on the day of audio release, are promoting FDFS t-shirts.