People who had offered to pay double money to buy tickets off those who had noon show tickets for Uttama Villain on Saturday will be feeling cheated. Till noon, the clearance from the digital lab that dues had been cleared did not arrive - leading to theatre owners across the city cancelling the show. Unlike on Friday, there wasn't as much outrage as sheer disappointment.
With no clearance reaching Qube digital cinema till 12 pm, they informed theatres that they would be unable to hand the digital keys and revised prints across to them before 1 pm. The film's cuts had already been recensored by the CBFC, informed a source in the film's unit and hence there was no delay on that front. A joint media announcement from Producers Council Chief Kalaipuli S Thanu, Nadigar Sangam chief R Sarath Kumar and Distributor K E Gnanavel Raja was slated for the same time, ostensibly to announce that all was well with the film's release.
The film's producers Kamal Haasan (Raajkamal Film International) and N Lingusamy (Thirrupathi Brothers) are staying away from public view.
However, Qube sources added that the clearance from Eros was yet to come and the film's release was still held up at 1.30 pm. Most theatres are having crowd control worries because word has got around that the movie is releasing but the digital keys are yet to be released.