CHENNAI: There will be only one big release this Friday, one that promises to be a thriller filled with drama, action and suspense. But it will be released only in thousands of booths and not on the silver screen.

Ahead of the voting for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on Friday, the theatres in Tamil Nadu announced that all four shows on that day would be cancelled in view of polling.

The 39 parliamentary constituencies and Vilavancode Assembly seat in Tamil Nadu will go to polls in the first phase on April 19. The voting will start at 7 am and end at 6 pm, said the Election Commission. That day has already been declared as a mandatory public holiday.

A Daily Thanthi report quoted Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners' Association general secretary R Panneerselvam that all theatres in Tamil Nadu would remain shut on April 19.

The decision was taken jointly by the 1,126 theatres across Tamil Nadu, added Sridhar, joint secretary of the association.