Will Vishwaroopam be a memorable cinematic video experience?

by Praveen Prasanna

Broadcasting films through Direct-to-Home technology is not new or experimental as this already existed with Indian films under premiere movies category on Tata Sky or Dish TV, etc. But to the fact those are the films that ran successfully in theaters and then moved to TV DTH telecast after days or months. 
 

As per Kamal's current plan, Vishwaroopam will be available 8 hours prior the theatrical release.The DTH premiere will not be a free service, the charge is expected to be somewhere between Rs. 500 - Rs. 1000 per home. Leaving out the producer, distributor or film-maker's point of view, let me talk about it from the audience point of view.

General Public NOT aware of how to sign-up for the movie pack 

The general public who has Tata Sky or Dish TV maintains an account that ranges from 150 till 400 denominations per month. So for a charge of 500 INR or higher, first they need to recharge with special coupons. Next they need to send SMS or web to avail the movie pack. This may sound easy for you and me but not for the general public. If online engagement is easy for the general public then there should be no mobile recharge shops in town and everyone should be doing a e-recharge by now. Unless you make the general public aware of the DTH premiere practice, Vishwaroopam will find it hard to showcase itself for the general public.

Encryption Technology - It doesn't matter!

Kamal mentioned there will be a superior encryption technology to avoid illegal recording of the movie. Come on..! You cannot challenge our people's Intelligence at this point, when we repeatedly failed. Even at the worst case, you can bring a SLR with recording facility, place it in front of the TV, record in 1080P HD with far better audio quality and the pirated DVD copies will be available from next morning in Burma bazaar. 

"Andha iruttu, orey koottam, andha satham..." 

Lastly, the definition of CINEMA involves 24 frames per sec, sound design, surround mixing, 3D Audio, depth of field and "Andha iruttu, orey koottam, andha satham...?" These terminologies may be irrelevant when watched at home with phone ringing and somebody knocking at the door.  Even Kamal agreed in one of his video interviews pointed out an analogy of why people still like to go to beach when you already have a ceiling fan at home.

Cinema should be experienced in Theaters and Videos are meant to be watched in TVs. Lets wait to see whether Vishwaroopam will be a memorable cinematic video experience.