For the fans of actor Kamal Haasan, the long wait for his magnum opus ‘Dasavathaaram' was finally over on Friday, with their celebration varying from sheer excitement to absolute euphoria across theatres in the city.

Performing ‘abhishekams,' garlanding huge images, dancing to his popular numbers - they couldn't have looked happier. Posters and blown-up visuals of the star with messages from fans, who have their hero's name prefixed to theirs - Kamal Ashok, Kamal Rizwanullah and Kamal Sivas - were put up at the entry points.

Nazeer Ahmed, who caught the first show at Albert theatre, came out grinning. "Take it from me. The film is going to be a super, duper hit. It'll run for 500 days," he said, perhaps, giving each avtar 50 days.

Doctor couple R. Chandrasekar and Gayathri flew down from Hyderabad just to catch the first show of the film. For Dr. Chandrasekar, a hard core Kamal fan, the first show at Albert was his second. "I managed to watch a preview show yesterday. The screenplay is just amazing," he said, sporting a black ‘Dasavathaaram' T-shirt, like many others there.

"Oh, I got this through our Orkut community of Kamal fans. I also booked my tickets through this online network," he said. Though the Tamil and Telugu versions film were launched worldwide on Friday, he was here for the ambience and excitement. "No doubt, Kamal has done a great job. But director Ravikumar who has put this together also deserves praise. The screenplay is very racy and smooth," said Ramesh, another fan.

Spokespersons of theatres said the response on day one was very satisfying and in some cases, overwhelming. At Sathyam Cinemas, all shows are full almost until next weekend.