'Vishwaroopam' to be big success in TN, predict distributors

Following a ban in Tamil Nadu, Kamal Haasan's controversial movie "Vishwaroopam" finally hit the screens in the state Thursday. Tickets are sold out for the weekend already and business is robust, says an official from Balaji Motion Pictures, distributors of the film in the northern region.

"The tickets are sold out till the weekend, and the film has opened to a tremendous response. The weekend is packed in advance and the reports of the film are very good," Girish Johar, head of acquisition and distribution, Balaji Motion Pictures, told IANS.

"'Vishwaroopam' is bound to succeed big time," he added.

Starring Andrea Jeremiah, Pooja Kumar, Rahul Bose, Shekhar Kapur and Jaideep Ahlawat, the Tamil and Telugu movie is written, produced and directed by Kamal, who also plays the title role.

The film's screening was banned in Tamil Nadu after a group of Muslim groups protested against certain scenes which they felt were derogatory to their community.

After several rounds of talks, the actor-filmmaker got permission to release his Rs.95 crore espionage film only after editing objectionable scenes.

Its Hindi version, "Vishwaroop", released Feb 1 and grossed approximately Rs.7.66 crore in its opening weekend.