Vijay Antony’s Thimiru Pudichavan is in the midst of a controversy. The film, slotted for Deepavali release, backed out due to non availability of good theatres as most of them were occupied by Sarkar. The makers have announced that they would release it on November 16, but the same date has been allotted to four small films — Sei, Kaattrin Mozhi, Utharavu Maharaja, Chitthira Pesudhadi — by Tamil Film Producers Council’s ‘Release Regulation Committee’.

Peeved at the move by the makers of TP, Nakkhul, the lead hero of Sei and Udhaya of Utharavu ....speak about the undue delay of their movies due to earlier strike and how they will get only minimum screens now due to Thimiru..... jumping its turn and taking their date.





Says Nakkhul, “Sei was to hit the marquee last March. Due to industry strike, we could not release then. After having missed several dates, we were given approval letter from TFPC’S Regulation Committee for November 16. We hear now that Vijay Antony’s Thimiru Pudichavan, which had not received a letter from TFPC (till Monday) is competing on the same day. This will obviously reduce the availability of screens for us. As of now, Sei has been promised 150 screens, but if TP gets released, then it will come down to 60, which is unfair. I am still keeping my fingers crossed.”

Aanchal Munjal and Nakkul
Aanchal Munjal and Nakkul

A source close to the Sei unit revealed that distributors want to release TP on November 16 at any cost. So, Sei will not have enough theatres for its release on the same day. There’s no possibility to postpone to November 23, as it will have a run time of only six days, with Rajinikanth-Shankar’s magnum opus 2.O scheduled for a massive release on November 29. An official statement from Trippy Turtle Productions, the makers of Sei said new dates will be announced soon.

Nakkhul plays an aspiring actor in the film directed by M’town director Raj Babu and bankrolled by Manu Kerala. Aanchal Munjal from Bollywood debuts as the heroine. Nakkhul adds, “My producer Manu is from our neighbouring state, but his passion for Tamil cinema has driven him to invest here. Under the prevailing tough situation in TN, how will any producer from other states invest in Tamil films?”

Actor Udhaya also urged the TFPC to ensure that those films given formal approvals by them should be the only ones to make it to the screens on November 16.