The past few weeks has seen Vijay’s latest Theri break records and whip up controversies. Scheduled for a release on Tamil New Years’, Theri is projected as Vijay’s magnum opus after the disappointing ‘Puli’ that managed to neither win over fans nor the box office.

Sources say that the initial snag with distributors choosing not to approach all theatres with the movie was owing to Puli’s dismal run, which even fans couldn’t save. There’s even a term for this doing the rounds – ‘Puli’tics. But this project is said to be particularly close to Vijay’s heart. 

Screenshots of housefull shows are currently the craze on social media. Servers have crashed. 
 

Not sure if I should be upset as a Theater operator or happy as a Vijay fan because the demand for tickets has caused our server to crash 

— Archana Kalpathi (@archanakalpathi) April 11, 2016

Over the past week however, reports of ticket prices getting jacked up to 200-400 rupees have upset producers, and even a hotline has been circulated to call in and complain in such cases.

For the first time, the government has cracked down on single screen theatres which normally sell tickets at 70-80 rupees, but customarily mark their ticket prices up by 150 rupees. Many theatres including Ganga, Kaasi, Vettri and Raaki theatres had reportedly closed pre-bookings and cancelled shows.

“Kaasi and a few other theatres have marked its prices up to 500 rupees as it always does for any Rajnikanth, Ajith or Vijay movie, and is refusing to show the film if ticket prices are lowered. For the government to raise the 30% tax cut issue, which is a minimum guarantee for any film with a Tamil title, and crack down on ticket prices, it seems a bit fishy,” a source said, adding that Ajith’s Yennai Arindhaal was the last film to face government intervention on a relatively lesser scale. Morning shows were cancelled on a large scale citing security reasons. 

There’s a lot riding on the movie. A theatre in Karaikudi is organizing a special show only for women. Sathian theatre in Karaikudi has announced a special show on April 14th at 7 AM exclusively for girls and ladies.The US theatrical rights have been snagged for a whopping Rs 3 crore, making it the highest price ever paid for Vijay’s film in his career. The deal was officially signed on Monday in Chennai between the film’s producer Kalaipuli S. Thanu and CineGalaxy Inc, a popular distribution company based out of US.  Germany, Switzerland and the UK are also catching on, with special shows for the next month.