Kamal Haasan firms up DTH plans for 'Vishwaroopam'

CHENNAI: Actor Kamal Haasan has given the final touches to his controversial plan to release his upcoming movie 'Vishwaroopam' on the direct-to-home platform, notwithstanding some dissenting theatre owners, by inking pacts with all top DTH providers except Tata Sky.
So, Sun DTH, Dish TV, Airtel DTH, Videocon DTH and Reliance's Big DTH will offer subscribers the Tamil version of the actor’s movie at 9.30 pm on January 10, though the theatrical release would only happen the following morning.

“I’m happy to be part of this innovative initiative which is the first of its kind in India. We couldn't rope in Tata Sky as we were running short of time,” said Haasan.

The move to launch the movie on DTH, the first time for a big movie in India, has been criticised by some theatre owners in Tamil Nadu, who have threatened to boycott the film. They fear the format will eat into their business and also lead to pirated versions of the movie.

For Haasan, whose home production Rajkamal International will distribute the movie in Tamil Nadu, the DTH platform is an opportunity to tap all possible revenue sources. The film has reportedly been made at a budget of Rs 95 crore, many times higher than an average Tamil movie budget.

Haasan pooh-poohed fears of piracy. “Try pirating it. You will see methods and devices that would reach you to the police station,” he said.

He said 390 theatres have been roped in already. And the aim is to touch 450. That's almost as many theatres in Tamil Nadu that released one of the rarest Tamil blockbusters this year, the Vijay-starrer Thupakki.

The DTH providers are now working to tap this buzz. During the event to announce the signing of pacts, Shashi Arora, CEO–DTH and Media, Bharti Airtel, said Airtel has come out with slew of promotions. So customers taking a new Airtel DTH connection between December 29 and January 2 will be able to enjoy a 20% discount on the movie booking.

Salil Kapoor, COO, Dish TV, had earlier told ET, “We will be promoting it to our own subscriber base. We will do lot of on-TV promotions. Like TV messages, default slides whenever and wherever necessary."