Kamal Haasan justifies decision to release film first on DTH

Chennai: Unfazed by opposition from theatre-owners against his decision to release his Tamil film `Viswaroopam` on Direct-To-Home (DTH) platform also, veteran actor Kamal Hassan Friday said the effort was an "evolutionary growth" and insisted it was the "way to go forward."

Seeking to assuage any apprehension, he said the effort of monetising his film has been done in a way without disturbing the "ecosystem of the cinema business." Announcing a tie-up with Airtel DTH, one of the firms that will telecast his film on January 10, next year, he said the film would be released in 390-odd theatres but the aim was to take it to 450 in the state. "Like satellite television this (effort of releasing the movie on DTH) is an evolutionary growth...The monetisation is very well-planned and we debated it with DTH companies without disturbing the ecosystem of the (cinema) business. This is the way to go forward," the `Sadma` star said. The opposition came from those who were not screening the movie, he said. He claimed this was a `first-of-its-kind` initiative across the globe and said it was in no way an experiment as "we are making use of the technology and money which is already there." In such a case the content developer will also benefit monetarily and enough anti-piracy technology has been incorporated, he said. There would be no advertisement and the movie will be shown by five DTH providers on January 10, a day ahead of the film`s release in theatre, he added. Theatre owners are up in arms against the national award winning actor`s decision to release the film on DTH, and have been threatening to boycott his movies. The film stars among others actor Rahul Bose, filmmaker Shekhar Kapoor and Andrea Jeremiah. PTI