K’town hits roadblock as major releases get postponed

Tamil movie buffs are disappointed as only one out of three films hit the screens on Friday morning. Vishal’s Ayogya, Atharvaa’s 100 and Jiiva’s Kee were scheduled to hit the screens on May 4. Due to financial constraints, both 100 and Ayogya failed to make it to the screens. However, after rigorous negotiations between the producer of 100 and the distributors the film opened to night shows across the state. The release date of Vishal’s film is yet to be announced.

A source close to Ayogya movie unit told DTNext that all is not well between Vishal and the film’s producer Tagore Madhu. “Tagore Madhu also produced Mahesh Babu’s Spyder, which incurred a huge loss. The film’s KDM wasn’t delivered after distributors said that Madhu had to settle his due of Rs 3 crore from Spyder’s theatrical rights. Moreover, the film is a remake of Telugu film Temper, which was remade in Hindi as Simmba starring Ranveer Singh and was produced by Dharma Productions and Rohit Shetty Pictures. They intervened and asked for their share as per the agreement,” said the source. Another source, who was a witness to negotiations that happened among Vishal, Madhu and distributors said that the discussions ended in a fallout between Vishal and Madhu, which forced the actor-producer to come up with a cryptic tweet. He wrote, “As I wait. For my hardwork called #ayogya to release. I did my best.more than an actor.as always. I groomed my child since it came on my lap.BUT.not enuf? #gajjnimohamed. My time will come. I continue my journey Gb.” (sic). This postponement has now made things difficult for other big releases of this month like Sivakarthikeyan’s Mr Local, Suriya’s NGK and Jai Neeya 2.

Despite shows being cancelled, theatres did not announce fans in advance. However, they were made to pay the parking ticket and were told by the theatre managements that shows have been cancelled, only after the audience entered their respective theatres. They expressed their disappointment saying that they weren’t refunded of their parking tickets too while their movie tickets would be refunded only after 48 hours.