The release of Paayum Puli has run into further delays after theatre owners in North Arcot, South Arcot, and Chengalpet refused to screen the film until Vendhar Movies compensates them for losses incurred by Lingaa. Vendhar Movies are the producers of Paayum Puli and were the distributors for Lingaa. Paayum Puli was originally scheduled to release on September 4.
Speaking to the press, lead actor Vishal said he couldn’t comment on the problem as he wasn’t in the producer’s shoes, but he did confirm that producers would meet Panneerselvam, the secretary of the Tamil Nadu Theatres Distribution Association, and try to resolve the issue. Vishal had earlier said that Paayum Puli would be the most exciting film of his career. Meanwhile, the Producers Council has issued a statement saying that such a move against the release of another film is unfair and unethical.
Lingaa, despite being a Rajinikanth film, made less money than anticipated by distributors, who had paid a high price for the film. Earlier in January, four distributors in Trichy, Thanjavur, North Arcot, and South Arcot, led by Singaravelan unsuccessfully attempted to recover a portion of their investment by appealing to Vendhar Movies, and subsequently Rajinikanth. Subsequently, stating that ‘Lingaa was dead by the sixth day’, the distributors had decided to fast in protest. They also cited an earlier instance of actor Vijay compensating Vendhar Movies after Thalaivaa had failed at the box-office.
Directed by Suseenthiran, Paayum Puli features Vishal and Kajal Aggarwal in the lead, along with a supporting cast of Samuthirakani, Soori, Nikitha Thukural, Jyoti Nooran, RK, Anandraj, Jayaprakash, and Murali Sharma. The film has music composed by D Imman.