Fans celebrate release of Vishwaroopam in TN

IANS/Chennai

Written, produced and directed by Haasan, the film got an overwhelming response when it hit some 600 cinemas across the state.

“We sold about 450-500 tickets for our first show at 8am. Since today is Thursday, we had about 85-90% occupancy, but we’re sure it will increase during the course of the day, especially later in the evening,” a spokesman of Rakki Cinemas said.

“Recent releases such as David and Kadal have been replaced with Vishwaroopam in all four screens. We’re screening five shows a day,” he added.

The tickets are moderately priced at Rs80 to Rs100 in single screens and Rs120 in multiplexes.

According to a multiplex representative, there was so much rush to watch the thriller that online bookings “suffered traffic congestion for a few hours since bookings opened.”

“We had to shut it down for some time and open extra windows for tickers to be sold over the counter. The tickets for the next five days are sold out,” he added.

Theatres are screening as many shows as possible. The first show starts as early as 6am and the last screening is at 10.30pm.

One of the leading multiplexes is screening more than 80 shows across multiple screens. In Woodland theatre, celebrations started around 6am. Fans celebrated by putting garlands on large posters of the actor, poured milk on life-size cut-outs and even danced to songs from Haasan’s films.

“Fans have been patronising since Tuesday evening, making arrangements for the grand release. They erected large cut-outs of the actor and even printed T-shirts with his picture. We had to open the gates as early as 6am since by then they had already gathered around the theatre,” a Woodlands theatre representative said.

Haasan arranged a special premiere of the film for close family and friends in the industry on Wednesday.

“Vishwaroopam takes Tamil cinema to a new level. It’s a visually brilliant film made on par with Hollywood standards. I didn’t find a single scene objectionable as it’s a fictional story set in Afghanistan,” G Dhananjayan of Disney-UTV said.

The film was banned after Muslim groups said they found some scenes portraying their community in a negative light. It was allowed to be released after Haasan agreed to edit a few scenes.

“Only actors such as Rajinikanth and Ajith Kumar are known for blockbuster openings, but from the initial responses from people, it’s very likely that this film will have a great opening. Trade pundits are expecting anywhere between Rs7 to Rs10 crore on the opening day,” trade analyst Trinath said.

Meanwhile Haasan said that a sequel to Vishwaroopam is likely to go on the floors soon.

“Vishwaroopam 2 is in its pre-production phase. I’ll start shooting for it very soon,” Haasan, 58, said at the screening of the film here.