The early morning shows of Maanaadu, the Tamil action thriller film starring actor Silambarasan in the lead role, were delayed on the day of its release on Thursday, due to ‘financial issues’. Shows however resumed from 7.30 am, the film’s publicity manager John confirmed to Silverscreen India.
The film is directed by Venkat Prabhu and produced by Suresh Kamatchi. On Wednesday evening, around 6 pm, Suresh announced on Twitter that the film’s release has been postponed, due to “unavoidable circumstances”. However, at around 10 pm, director Venkat announced that the film will release on Thursday, as per the original schedule. On Thursday, around 7.15 am, Suresh tweeted that the issues were sorted.
Speaking to Silverscreen India, John said, “It was due to financial reasons, a few payments were not processed. Hence the KDM (Key Delivery Message) was delayed. Most of the issues were sorted out yesterday night itself, but the process became late, and hence the morning shows were delayed. Now it is running in theatres. Only the 5 am shows were cancelled.” According to Cinepedia, a KDM “is required to play an encrypted movie” in theatres.
Maanaadu has faced several other roadblocks before its release. The film was initially slated for a Diwali release alongside films such as Annaatthe and Enemy. It later opted out of the race and fixed its release date as Thursday. However, the next roadblock came in the form of the Tamil Nadu government’s latest announcement, making it mandatory for movie-goers to produce a proof of vaccination before entering cinema halls. Raising concerns that the mandate would affect the film’s reception as many would hesitate to come, Suresh wrote to the chief minister, asking him to reconsider the decision.
Maanaadu opened to around 600 screens across Tamil Nadu on Thursday.
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Venkatesh, the owner of Woodlands Cinemas, Chennai told Silverscreen India “Since I don’t do morning shows as a practice, I will be starting with the 12 pm show, and carry on with the other screenings. We will be asking the movie-goers if they have received the first dose, and then allow them,” he added.
Details about who has bagged the satellite and digital rights of Maanaadu are expected to be announced soon.
Maanaadu is the latest in a long line of Tamil films that have been impacted by the non-delivery of the KDM over financial settlement issues. Other films whose morning shows were cancelled or delayed in the past include 96, Imaikka Nodigal and Baahubali 2’s tamil release among others.