Katteri, the upcoming Tamil horror film, will not release as scheduled on December 25, amid fears of a “new threat of second wave” of Covid-19, said the film’s producers Studio Green on Wednesday.
However, the announcement has not been received well by theatre associations, who say that claims of a ‘second wave’ are misleading and will cause confusion and fear. Stating that there has been no official announcement on any second wave, theatre owners say that Katteri’s release was delayed for internal reasons that had nothing to do with Covid-19.
According to Studio Green’s statement, “Considering the new threat of the second wave and having every one’s safety in mind we as a production house have the responsibility to take precautionary action since we are in uncertain times and situation right now. Taking into consideration of hundred’s of technician’s and craftsmen’s hard work not getting show cased well. We regret to inform you that we are postponing the release of our Tamil feature film “KATTERI” in theatres for now.”
The studio said that the film would “surely be out soon on theatres as the situation gets better and the threat gets dissolved”.
However, speaking to Silverscreen India, Srither S, joint secretary of Tamil Nadu Theatres Association said, “The reason to postpone this film which they have cited as due to corona’s second wave, is not the correct one. They have their own separate agenda. They have not released the film due to personal problems. The ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) has not warned us about the second wave in India as yet.”
Srither, however, refused to comment on what that agenda could be.
Srither said that the film Wonder Woman 1984 saw a good collection on Wednesday in Tamil Nadu theatres. He said, “We completely reject the indefinite release by Gnanavel Raja [founder of Studio Green].”
He said that the postponement would not overly affect theatres, but it would mislead people and create confusion. “I have no qualms over people not visiting the theatres due to the announcement, But, Gnanavel Raja’s is a reputed producer and this announcement will create confusion among people. In my opinion, this is wrong,” he said.
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Echoing the same thoughts, Tiruppur Subramaniam, president of the Tamil Nadu Theatre and Multiplex Owners Association said, “They have said that the release has been postponed due to Covid-19 second wave. This is a lie. The Centre and State government have not told us anything about it. It creates fear among people and this is wrong. It affects every business, not just cinema.”
Katteri is written and directed by Deekay, with Vignesh Vasu as cinematographer and Praveen KL as editor. It stars actors Vaibhav, Varalakshmi Sarathkumar, Ponnambalam, Karunakaran, John Vijay, Mime Gopi, and Jangiri Madhumitha, among others.
The new release date of Katteri has not yet been announced.