The first-day first show (FDFS) and other morning shows of Manmatha Leelai, the Tamil adult comedy film starring actor Ashok Selvan and directed by Venkat Prabhu, were cancelled on Friday due to a failure to deliver the KDM (key delivery message).
A KDM is the encryption key required to play a movie at a theatre. It has to be delivered to the theatres screening a particular movie for it to be played.
“Due to a technical glitch causing a slight delay, matinee shows of Manmatha Leelai from today… KDM will reach your respective theatres shortly,” said a statement from the production house of Manmatha Leelai.
The film marks Venkat Prabhu’s first collaboration with Ashok. Backed by Muruganantham under the Rockfort Entertainment banner, it also stars Smruthi Venkat, Samyuktha Hegde, and Riya Suman. The film has been certified ‘A’.
It is to be noted that the director’s previous film, Maanaadu, also faced a similar issue during its release in 2021.
Acknowledging this, Venkat Prabhu tweeted on Friday, “History repeats! And we wish the success too! Sorry about the morning shows. Manmatha Leelai is all yours from this afternoon, all across the world. A small, fun film made during the lockdown.”
Speaking to Silverscreen India, the film’s publicity manager Sathish said, “The film will open with the matinee shows (3 pm) on Friday because there was a glitch in the KDM earlier. All the legal issues have been sorted out and the film will run in theatres normally after that.”
Earlier, the film had run into legal trouble due to financial and title issues.
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Manmatha Leelai was not the only film that faced troubles on Friday. The other Tamil release, Idiot, also had its morning shows cancelled.
Idiot stars Shiva and Nikki Galrani, and is directed by Rambhala. The horror-comedy is produced by Screen Scene Media Entertainment Pvt Ltd.
“Manmatha Leelai and Idiot will both be released on Friday afternoon across Tamil Nadu. The FDFS of both shows did not happen owing to financial issues involving their makers. However, at present, all the issues have been resolved and we will be playing both of them,” said a reliable source from the Tamil Nadu Theatre and Multiplex Owners Association to Silverscreen India.