Kamal Haasan’s Viswaroopam will premiere on DTH on January 10, and hit the screens the next day. In an hour-long interview to Business Line , the actor and film-maker said: “The protest has only made me stand firmer on my ground. We are going ahead, booking theatres. And they have seen me doing that before.”
It is only a new avenue, another ethical opportunity to monetise on. If anybody says no, he is the loser, he explained. “We are fighting a war against technology, only to realise that the latter wins. Always,” he said.
His estimate is that at least six lakh DTH homes will watch
Theatre-owners’ reaction
However, the actor says not all theatre owners are protesting. Theatre owners in other centres are on his side, he insists. For example, he said: “The theatre owners association in Coimbatore has already passed a resolution to back me. Other centres such as Tiruchi are also by my side. In fact, over 15 cinema halls are getting new sound systems installed specially to screen this film.” According to him, the protest is only from Chennai and neighbouring South Arcot, North Arcot and Chengalpattu districts.
Now, he said, theatre owners in the North too have joined them, saying if the movie is DTH-launched in the South, they won’t screen it in the North too. “It’s a nexus, and it is unfair. I am not going to release the Hindi or Telugu version on DTH.” However, he was confident that all of them would eventually support him. “All it calls for is persuasion. I have to talk to them, and make them understand that it will only help bring in more people to the theatres,” he said.
As of now, he has signed up with four DTH operators — Airtel, Dish, Videocon and Reliance Digital. And the plan is to screen the film on close to 2,000 screens globally, of which 400 are in Tamil Nadu and 1,200 elsewhere in the country.
“ Viswaroopam is going to premiere in Los Angeles on January 10, and I am going there for that,” Kamal Haasan signs off.