Fireworks started early on Diwali day this year... as early as 7am! As Salman Khan's Tiger 3 blazed into movie theatres on a rare Sunday, the superstar's fans not only rose bright and early to catch a show, but also make a celebration of it.

(l-r) t2 caught friends who wore customised Tiger 3 T-shirts and held a Salman placard to click a selfie, Man bun like Pathaan but a Tiger fan for life! #WeLove

As the first shows started for the day, the single-screen cinemas in Calcutta wore an air of excitement, with fans landing up with posters, body art, sporting T-shirts and screaming: “Tiger, Tiger!" in front of the life-sized posters of the film which is the latest instalment in the Tiger franchise, in which the 57-year-old actor reprises his role of super spy Tiger.

"Jab tak Tiger maraa nahin, tab tak Tiger haara nahin." The now viral dialogue from Tiger was on the lips of every fan, who screamed and hooted out loud before they trooped in for the show

On Sunday, members of Salman Khan's fan clubs carried out their usual ritual of pouring milk over the posters of the film and garlanding them. t2 caught some die-hard fans with permanent Salman tattoos on their chests and also body art dedicated to Tiger.

This fan literally wore his fandom on his sleeve — and much more — with tiger body art and undercut that spelt 'Tiger' in Hindi

t2 hopped,skipped and jumped from Menoka near the Dhakuria Lakes to Basusree Cinema at SP Mukherjee Road and finally Ajanta in Behala.

"My expectations from Tiger 3 shot up after Pathaan's release. I used to be a huge Salman Khan fan back in the day so to be back at the theatres to watch a first day-first show is pretty exciting," said Sagorika Kar at Menoka.

"Just like how Ek Tha Tiger and Tiger Zinda Hai won our hearts, I am sure Tiger 3 will have the same impact,” said Ayan Ghosh (extreme right) while posing for t2 before a Tiger 3 poster with his friends Animesh Dhali, Sourav Bhowmick and Piyush Sharma. We caught the group at Basusree.