Director Asif Kuraishi’s Utharavu Maharaja will re-release in 150 screens in Tamil Nadu this summer. The psycho-comedy thriller starring Udhaya and Prabhu had released in November 2018 in fewer screens that the team had expected.
The producers said in a recent press statement, “Udhaya’s Jeshan Studios’ Utharavu Maharaja released in November last year. Because many films released during the same time, we didn’t get enough screens. Manikandan Shivdas of Charismatic Creations will be re-releasing the film in over 150 theatres this May.”
The film was produced by Udhaya under his home banner Jeshan Studios. It released on November 16th, along with Kaatrin Mozhi, Sei, Chithiram Pesuthadi 2, the films that were scheduled under Tamil Film Producers Council’s new rule saying only small budget movies can release on the first and third Fridays of the month.
However, Vijay Antony’s big-budget film Thimiru Pudichavan entered this list in the last minute. The film was supposed to be a Diwali release but got postponed because of non-availability of screens due to Vijay’s Sarkar. Thimuru Pudichavan‘s last minute entry reduced the number of screens for the small-budget films, leading to producers protesting and conflicts with the TFPCs screening committee.
Actor Udhaya had released a statement urging the Producers Council to solve the issue amicably and ensure that only the officially agreed upon releases make it to screens on November 16. Following this, TFPC threatened disciplinary action against producers who release their film without getting prior approval. Thimuru Pudichavan’s producer Fatima Vijay Antony responded saying there was no screen regulation in place by the TFPC, and that their team was suffering losses because of the delay in release.
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Udhaya told Silverscreen, that while movies with good content are appreciated, there needs to be enough screens for them to prove their worth. He also thanked Adanga Maru and Seethakathi for postponing release dates of their films following his request to abide by the rules of the release regulation committee.
Utharavu Maharaja was pitched as a psycho-thriller, one of the most important films for Udhaya in his career. The movie starred Udhaya in four different looks, as someone with a dissociative personality disorder. Prabhu, Manobala, Kovai Sarala starred in important roles, and the music was by Naren Balakumar.