Indian companies are giving their employees a DAY OFF to go and see the new Rajini movie

The actor – usually known as simply Rajini – has over three million Twitter followers, is adored by fans across the country and is widely referred to as the "Super Star".

Following rumours that workers were planning to go on mass leave (or pull a sickie complaining of Rajini fever), some companies in the southern Indian cities of Bengaluru and Chennai have announced a holiday on 22nd July.

These include Bengaluru-based Opus Waterproofing and Chennai-based Fyndus India Pvt Ltd.

Fyndus called the day off an effort to “avoid piled up leave requests to the HR department”.

And Opus is going so far as to give out free tickets…

SUPERSTAR RAJINIKANTH _/_ no one like him ... nothing like him #Kabali pic.twitter.com/MipzdtrJZn

— Emmatard ☔ (@Jaqtard) July 18, 2016

A day off isn't celebration enough for some companies, though, and digital media startup TheSocialPeople is having a Rajinikanth costume party on 21st July.

There is always somewhat of a furore surrounding anything Rajini-related, and this film already caused a stir when Air Asia launched a special aircraft so that the actor's adoring fans could fly in it to watch the Kabali premiere in his home city of Chennai.

At software provider FreshDesk, meanwhile, it is becoming a tradition that when a Rajinikanth movie is released, the whole office goes to see it.

And the madness continues…

Fans in Rajinikanth's home city Chennai have started an online petition to request the state's chief minister to declare an official holiday on 22nd July. "We humbly request our CM Jayalalithaa to declare Friday as a public holiday, which will enable people to watch the movie in comfort, without the hassle of taking leave," the petition states.

Star Trek Beyond is out on Friday in the UK. I might have a word with my boss...