What was meant to be a celebration has turned into a crisis. Suriya's much-anticipated Karuppu has had both its morning and noon shows cancelled across several major theatres in Chennai on its release day, leaving fans stranded outside cinema halls and triggering a wave of anger on social media.

The cancellations are reportedly due to pending financial settlements with financiers on the production side. With little clarity from the makers, theatre owners and audiences have been left in the dark. Pictures of disappointed fans waiting outside cinema halls, unaware of the sudden cancellations, have been widely circulated online.

Major chains including Vettri Theatres, Kamala Cinemas, GK Cinemas, and Ega Theatres took to X to announce the cancellation of afternoon shows and assured audiences of refunds. Vishnu Kamal of Kamala Cinemas shared that he received a call from the distributor's side informing him that Karuppu would release in the evening. "This is truly heartbreaking for everyone who had been eagerly waiting to watch the film today," he said.

Producer SR Prabhu had issued an apology earlier in the morning, but an official word on when exactly the film will release remains awaited.

Now, in a significant development, sources indicate that Suriya himself has stepped in to resolve the pending financial issues that caused the day's disruption. The issue is said to be on the verge of being sorted out by evening, raising hopes that Karuppu will finally make it to screens today as planned.

Karuppu features Suriya as Saravanan alongside Trisha, Indrans, Anagha Maya Ravi, RJ Balaji, Yogi Babu, Sshivada, Swasika, Natty, Supreeth Reddy, with Sai Abhyankkar composing the music, GK Vishnu on cinematography, and R Kalaivanan editing.