Actor Vishal reportedly announced on Wednesday that Re 1 from every ticket of his latest film Ayogya sold in Tamil Nadu will be donated to the farmer’s welfare association in the state.
However, this is not the first time Vishal has said this. The last two times he made similar announcements, he could not implement them because he had not consulted theatre owners beforehand. In August 2017, soon after he was appointed president of Tamil Film Producers’ Council, he said that Re 1 would be paid to the farmer’s fund for every ticket sold on all films that release in Tamil Nadu. A month later, he said these collection will be made for his film Thupparivalan, but the announcements did not go well with theatre owners.
Details about how the collection will be made this time are yet to come.
The president of Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners’ Association, Tirupur Subramaniam, told Silverscreen that they have not been approached yet. He said, “Vishal has said similar things in the past and not been able to implement them. Why will theatre owners listen to him? If he wants to donate to farmers, he should pay from his salary. Moreover, Ayogya released on May 11, and 75% of theatres in the TN ran the last show on May 16. How will the collection happen now?”
Meanwhile, news regarding the donation has been doing the rounds on social media with many people sharing posters of Vishal from Ayogya. Some have asked why he was being credited when the donation amount would be deducted from the theatre owners’ earnings.
I fail to understand..
It means amount goes from money given by audience to theater owner..
Idhula ivanuku Ena credit tharaanga ? If a percent from his salary or profit from film goes to ppl na ok.. idhula logic eh ilayae !! #vishal pic.twitter.com/04rGxnXNPi— Engineer Sangeetha Sivakumar (@sarasiga) May 15, 2019
But he has largely been lauded for the announcement. A section of the Telugu audience have also called him the ‘real-life Maharshi’, in reference to this week’s other big film Maharshi, starring Mahesh Babu as a powerful corporate head who helps farmers.
Farmers don't need movies on them they need people who can actually make a difference like how Vishal donated Rs1 for each ticket of Abhimanyudu and here yet people are just busy tweeting for box office wars. #Maharshi #justabusiness
— Heybaabu (@heybaabu) May 12, 2019
1 Rupee from Each #Ayogya ticket will be donated to farmers of #TamilNadu !!#Vishal being a #Maharshi in Real Life coming forward to help the farmers !! pic.twitter.com/VzFQSY2VYT
— OverSeasRights.Com (@Overseasrights) May 16, 2019
#Maharshi#Ayogya
Well done Vishal Sir@VishalKOfficial
Farmers mida Movie teyadam kadu
Farmers ki Help cheyali
Adi asalina Greatness?? pic.twitter.com/VDCcx6CjJL— Sai Charan (@SaiChar39710399) May 16, 2019
Directed by Venkat Mohan, Ayogya is a remake of the Telugu hit Temper. Vishal stars as a corrupt cop, Raashi Khanna, R Parthiban, KS Ravikumar, and others are part of the cast.
