Updated by admin on
Tuesday, October 21, 2014 12:34 PM IST
Chennai:
The distributors and exhibitors might have reached an agreement on release of the Tamil film Kaththi on October 22 as scheduled but T Velmurugan, leader of Tamizhaga Vaazhvurimai Katchi, has denied that his party had agreed to the release formula, and said the protests against the film would continue.
Two theatre complexes in Chennai which had planned to release Vijay-starrer Kaththi on Deepavali day (October 22) were attacked with stones and petrol bombs in the early hours of October 21 despite the claim of the film distributors and producers that an agreement had been reached on release of the film on October 22.
Velmurugan denied that the party and other protestors were agreeable to the formula expressed by the producers.
In response to the protests over association of Lyca Productions with the film since it was deemed to be close to Sri Lanka president Rajapakse, charged by these groups with human rights violations against the Tamils in Sri Lanka), Ayngaran International has said it had agreed to remove the name Lyca Productions from the film's publicity material.
Velmurugan said the groups would continue to oppose the film, and said they would protest peacefully even if the movie was released on October 22.
Following the attack on two theatres in Chennai even as advance booking was set to open this morning, the association of theatre owners in Tamil Nadu convened an urgent meeting to review the situation. Representatives of the film producers and distributors also attended the meeting. The distributors and producers reportedly assured the exhibitors that the name of Lyca Productions, a co-producer with Ayngaran International, would be dropped from the film's publicity material. The theatre owners agreed that steps would be taken for release of the film as scheduled on October 22.
Meanwhile, actor Vijay said an agreement had been reached on release of the movie as scheduled, and that all issues had been resolved. He thanked AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa for the agreement reached among various sections in the film industry over release of the film.
Last night, the producers of Kaththi had announced that the Tamil film is ready for a Deepavali release globally but doubts persisted.
All issues had been resolved amicably, the production house has informed, though some Tamil outfits stated last night they were not aware that their demands were fully met. Booking will begin for Kaththi on October 21st morning, Ayngaran International had announced.
"We are happy to announce that all the issues have been solved amicably. Kaththi is releasing globally as DEEPAVALI dhamaka", Ayngaran said.
Some parties in Tamil Nadu had opposed the release of Kaththi alleging that the film was indirectly financed by Sri Lankan president Rajapakse and his associates. They alleged that when many persons were opposing Rajapakse, holding him responsible for war crimes and human rights violations during the operations against the LTTE, a film could not be made in Tamil Nadu with his help. This charge
was vehemently opposed by the production house and actor Vijay, and the latter maintained that Rajapakse was in no way connected with the film.
Around 11 p.m. on Monday night, representatives of Ayngaran International said all issues were resolved amicably and that the movie will release without any mention of Lyca Productions, charged with having business ties with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The president of the Chennai Theatre Owners’ Association, Abhirami Ramanathan, had stated last night that they would release the film only if these Tamil parties and Ayngaran International reached a compromise.
