Rajinikanth's 73rd Birthday: Celebrated as a superstar of Indian cinema, Rajnikanth turned 73 on December 12. He celebrated the day with his family members at his home in an intimate party. His stardom remains unprecedented, as even at this age, Rajni is uber-famous and enjoys an army of fans.

While wishes poured in from all corners, from film stars to politicians to fans, Rajni, who is fondly known as Thalaiva, remains the highest-paid actor in India, as he took home a fee of Rs 210 crore for his film Jailer.

A video that has surfaced on the internet showed fans celebrating Rajnikanth's birthday by performing abhishek on his idol in Tamil Nadu, which has drawn disapproval from fans.

Fans perform puja on Rajnikanth's birthday

Fans' love for Rajinikanth is well known across the world. His die-hard fans can go to any extent to watch his films and express their love for their beloved star. One such incident that has come to light is getting mixed responses from social media users.

A video clip shared by a new agency ANI showed a few people offering special prayers at a temple dedicated to Thalaiva in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.

In the video, a group of people are seen performing an abhishek ritual on Rajni's idol and also chanting mantras.

Netizens react

Soon, the video went viral, and users flocked to the comment section and called it inappropriate to worship a human. One wrote, "Pure madness," while another added, "Mujhe toh ye Gautam Gambhir lag rha hai."

A third said, "This is crazy ! This is disrespectful and you complain when people laugh at Hindus." One comment read, "No one is born a god; it is people who think someone is invincible, perfect, and unaffected by the inevitable, and they start praying to him/her."

Thalaivar 170

Meanwhile, Thalaivar 170's title, which is Rajnikanth's 170th film, was released on the occasion of his birthday. Written and directed by TJ Gnanavel, the film has been named Vettaiyan. A title teaser was dropped yesterday wherein he says, "When the hunt is on, the prey must fall."

The Tamil word Vettaiyan means Hunter in English, and it is going to be an out-and-out action flick. The film will have Rajinikanth reuniting with Amitabh Bachchan after more than 30 years.