With just a day left before Sarkar releases, there is still no clarity on whether the film will have early morning shows. It’s the usual practice in Tamil Nadu for a big star’s film to get early morning shows and there was a buzz among fans that the Vijay starrer would get even a 1 am show on Deepavali day.

However, as of now, the early morning shows are yet to be fixed, especially in Chennai city where there are no shows earlier than 7.15 am.

The Tamil Nadu government has reportedly granted permission for the film to have five shows a day, which is in line with the rules for public holiday screenings. On other days, a film can have only four shows.

Nikilesh Surya, Executive Director of Rohini Silver Screens, confirmed to TNM that the theatre will not be screening early morning shows for Sarkar.

“Yes, we won’t be having early morning shows because only five shows can be played. However, we have sought permission to play five shows at our own time to manage the crowd. It’s hard to accommodate all five shows keeping regular working hours,” he said.

According to a government order, the extra show can be accommodated only between 9 am and 1.30 am (ending on the next day) and this holds good for November 6-9 and November 12.

While there are discussions on social media that Sarkar has been targeted because Vijay poses a threat to politicians in the state, Nikilesh says that there is greater emphasis on the number of shows and the show timings this time because of the Madras HC’s recent direction to district collectors to take action against theatre owners violating the Cinematographic Act.

The court’s direction came after a PIL which sought action against owners of 30 theatres in the state for violating the rules and playing as many as six shows a day from 5 am onwards for certain big stars. The state government had told the court that only four shows were allowed on regular days and that theatres could obtain prior permission on holidays for an extra screening.