Two big films are hitting the screens on the same date on Thursday - Rajinikanth’s Petta and Ajith’s Viswasam - yet, as of 6.00 pm on Wednesday, the approval for special shows has not been granted. The approval comes in the form of a government order from the Tamil Nadu Government Home Department’s Cinemas division.
This approval is required for theatres to schedule special morning shows as is the case for big star films. Speaking to TNM, Ruban, Managing Director of GK Cinemas, says that the demand for these two films ensures that the special show seats will be filled fairly quickly even if the GO comes around 8.00 pm on Wednesday.
“We have four shows planned for the first day - 12.00 pm, 3.00 pm, 7.00 pm and 10.00 pm. We will split the shows between our screens - two big screens and two smaller screens. We sold out in 15 minutes for the first day. We have an equal number of shows and seats in all our screens. If we receive the GO even at 8.00 pm, we will plan for special shows,” he says.
Rohini Silverscreens in Chennai which witnesses some of the craziest fan shows also put out a tweet clarifying that no 1.00 am show has been planned for Ajith’s Viswasam as rumoured.
CLARIFICATION: Unfortunately there are no 1AM shows scheduled for #Viswasam @rohinisilverscr Kindly ignore all rumours. pic.twitter.com/XS7ORTfzvY
— Rohini SilverScreens (@RohiniSilverScr) January 9, 2019
The GO not coming through just a day before the film’s release is as a dampener for many fans. But this charade is quite common before the release of any big star films, says a box office tracker from the industry.
“This has happened for Vijay films in the past. The order might eventually come through but theatres invariably plan for such special shows based on fan pressure. Festival days can have 5 shows and so even if the order were to come tomorrow, the theatres can have special shows on Day 2 given that it is Pongal holidays. But if you look at the scene in Andhra, for the NTR biopic, the government has allowed 5.00 am special shows,” he adds.
Tirupur Subramanium, who handles distribution and exhibition in Coimbatore circle, tells us that most of the theatres will play both Viswasam and Petta in the Coimbatore circle. “They will split the shows 50-50 between their screens, if they play two shows for Petta, they’ll play two shows for Viswasam,” he says.
Viswasam and Petta will be the biggest box office clash in Tamil Cinema in a long time. Box office trackers had opined that the films will eat into each other’s collection.