Kamal Haasan’s Vishwaroopam’s Telugu and Hindi versions ( Vishwaroop ) too are going to be premiered on the direct-to-home platform. Earlier it was decided to premiere only the movie's Tamil version.
According to industry sources, while the charge for Tamil version is Rs 1,000, for other languages it has been fixed at Rs 500.
In addition to the four DTH players — Airtel, Dish, Videocon and Reliance Digital – industry sources say Kamal Haasan has signed with Sun Direct too. Sun Direct, part of the Sun TV group, has close to 60 per cent of the total DTH connections in the State. According to industry estimates, there are over 4.5 million DTH homes in the State.
Tata Sky too is pretty much interested in taking the film on board. “We are in talks, and will surely bag the rights,” Harit Nagpal, Managing Director of Tata Sky told
The Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Federation and Distributors Association is protesting this initiative saying it will affect theatre revenues. Commenting on this development, Abirami Ramanathan, President of the Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Federation, told Business Line that the two bodies will meet in Coimbatore on December 26 to discuss these developments, which will followed by another meeting in Chennai on December 28 to take a final call on this.
Airtel Digital has announced that it has started accepting bookings for the movie in all the three languages. Nationally, it has 7.5 million subscribers. To book the movie, Airtel DTH subscribers can SMS VISHWA from their Registered Telephone Number to 54325 and an Airtel DTH customer care representative will call back to complete the advance booking formalities.
It has also been announced that the DTH player will accept bookings for the Tamil version for a charge of Rs 1,200, and the Telugu and Hindi versions for Rs 500. However, pre-bookings of the Tamil version will be available until January 8, for a charge of Rs 1,000.
So, as its stands now, the movie would release in theatres on January 11, 2013, it will be premiered on DTH’s Pay Per View at 9:30 p.m. on January 10 in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi.