'Vishwaroopam' mints Rs.5.81 crore on first day in TN

Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan's "Vishwaroopam" raked in some Rs.5.81 crore on the day it released in Tamil Nadu.

"Since it opened in theatres Thursday, the (collection is) expected to increase over the weekend," trade analyst Trinath told IANS.

The film, written, produced and directed by Kamal Haasan, released Feb 7 in over 600 theatres in Tamil Nadu.

The Rs.95 crore espionage thriller was originally scheduled to release in Tamil and Telugu Jan 25 but it got banned following protests by Muslim groups. The ban was later lifted.

"Vishwaroopam" narrates the story of a Muslim Indian agent living in the US in disguise, on a secret assignment to stop a probable terror attack. It stars Kamal Haasan, Pooja Kumar, Andrea Jeremiah, Shekhar Kapur, Rahul Bose and Jaideep Ahlawat.

The film's Hindi version, "Vishwaroop", released worldwide Feb 1. It collected Rs. 11.55 crore in its opening weekend, according to trade analyst Taran Adarsh.