4 Days to Vishwaroopam - Aascar to the rescue

With only 4 more days to go, it is turning out to be a 95 Crore Vishwarooba gamble for Kamal. The pendulum could swing either ways for Kamal. This is turning out to be a close finish with no one able to predict the outcome due to all the uncertainties. Let's take a pulse check at the latest situation, 

Tailwind

There are a lot of positive developments with all DTH providers telecasting Vishwaroopam in all languages. Kamal has been touring all over India promoting and winning support for the movie. Another encouraging aspect is that the awareness among people regarding the DTH release of Vishwaroopam is high all over India. The movie has been screened to a small group of people and Kamal is encouraged by the positive feedback that he has received.

Headwind

However on the negative side, PVR cinemas, which owns around 500 screens, pulled back their support. In Tamil Nadu, TNTOA (TN Theatre association) has decided to not extend support for Kamal. Despite the high awareness, the early-bird sign-ups are still only in a few thousands as reported by a source working in one of the leading DTH providers. It is not clear how many people are planning to sign-up during the last 24 hours. To add to the complexity, Pyramid Saimira (now defunct) has filed a fresh legal complaint against Kamal regarding an advance that they had paid for Marmayogi. 

Aascar to the rescue

DTH providers are looking for ways to accelerate sign-ups while Aascar is helping big time with gaining grassroot support from theatres.  Due to a number of uncertainties plaguing Vishwaroopam, the word is that Kamal may have directly sought the help from Aascar (who has paid the advance for Kamal's next movie) to get more theatre owners and distributors to screen the movie in Tamil Nadu. Aascar has agreed to guide Kamal in navigating the current situation and has been making calls directly to major theatre owners all over Tamil Nadu and gaining their agreement.

Shortage of screens for Pongal release movies

With theatre screens already mass booked by Studio Green (for Alex Pandian) and Udhay Stalin (for KLTA), theatre owners are staying non-committal due to the pressure they are getting from TNTOA. Many theatre owners are concerned about being singled out for supporting Vishwaroopam. To show confidence, major print promotions are expected to be launched starting on Sunday with detailed theatre listings in newspapers.