77.7 per second!

As Superstar Rajinikanth joined Twitter, it seemed that the social networking site would soon crash as his followers kept increasing at a whopping rate of 77.7 followers per second! Now you know why he is the Superstar!

Ahead of the release of his much-talked about film ‘Vikrama Simha’, cinematic icon Rajinikanth joined Twitter on Monday to make his presence felt in the digital world.

He will engage with his fans via his handle @SuperStarRajini. Within an hour of his entry, there were more than 40,000 followers! His first tweet was: “Salutation to the Lord. Vanakkam anaivarukkum !! A big thank you to all my fans. Excited on this digital journey (sic).” The actor’s followers kept increasing at a rate of nearly 150 per second.

"I decided to start with Twitter because I felt that the platform is abuzz with all the news and the trends that happen across the globe and I'm told that this is where all the best Rajini one-liners are," the 63-year-old said in a statement. One of India's most prolific and influential superstars, Rajinikanth's mass popularity and appeal is largely drawn from his mannerisms and stylised dialogue delivery. The usually reticent star is looking forward to interacting with his fans on the platform.

"I've always believed that my career graph is a miracle I owe my fans. I have been contemplating joining the social media platform for a while to connect with them, hear what they have to say and share my thoughts. Unfortunately, I never got around to it until now," he said.

To make Rajinikanth's debut on Twitter more exciting, fans from all over the world, who follow him on @SuperStarRajini in the first week, will receive a 'WelcomeGraph', a personalised welcome picture from the icon.

His new film ‘Vikrama Simha’, directed by his younger daughter Soundarya R Ashwin, is releasing on May 9.