MSG: The Messenger of God , the film that has been running into controversies, finally released on Friday across about 3,000 screens in the country. The movie that has been produced and directed and also stars self-styled spiritual leader, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh who heads Dera Sacha Sauda, released in five languages, Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. The film opened to tight security, with protests by some Sikh sects seeking a ban on it for ‘hurting religious sentiments’ being reported from some parts of Delhi, Haryana and Jammu.
Playing it safeSome theatre owners are said to have opted out of screening to avoid “unnecessary risk“, while some other executives in the multiplex industry said they had not received reports of any incident in their movie halls.
Multiple players said the movie opened well in North India and occupancies are expected to pick up over the weekend. According to a spokesperson at PVR Cinemas, the movie saw nearly 300,000 tickets booked in advance.
“The response to the showcasing of the film
Devang Sampat, Business Head – Strategy, Cinépolis India said, that the release overall was smooth, adding that the opening collections started slow though high occupancies were seen in cities, such as Chandigarh and Ambala.
The Dera Sacha Sauda chief is known to have a cult following and has in the past released music videos that made news for being a hit on YouTube. According the film’s official website, MSG was also released in select screens in the US, UK and Canada.
The film had witnessed protests earlier, too, and was one reason for the resignation of the entire staff of the Censor Board of Film Certification, which was led by chairperson Leela Samson in January.