Uttama trouble

Kamal Haasan’s new film fails to open on time and Lakshmi Manchu tries to make most of it

Lakshmi Manchu, who was keeping track of the drama immediately announced that her film Dong ata will hit the screens for the matinee shows on Friday. She later backtracked

Kamal Haasan’s much-awaited film Uttama Villain did not release on Friday morning. All of the morning shows of the film were cancelled. Huge crowds had gathered at Prasad Multiplex for the 8.45 am show only to be informed that the theatre hadn’t received the digital print. Apart from this film, the morning shows of Ganga, produced by Bellam konda Suresh and directed by Raghava Lawrence, also had to be cancelled for the same reason. The film’s Tamil version has already released and after a financial settlement, the producer had announced the release on May 1. Both films have faced financial crisis and the prints of both were supposed to come from Chennai. When asked about the delay, producer of Uttama Villain, C. Kalyan says, “Some financial matters are still being discussed. It may be settled at any time.”

Drama ensued in the afternoon. With the morning shows of the two films being cancelled, many assumed that both films will be postponed to another day.

Ganga released after 11 am, but only in the Nizam region.

Later reports said Uttama Villain remained cancelled for all of Friday.

Meanwhile, Lakshmi Manchu, who was keeping track of the delay in the two releases, decided to announce on social media that her film Dong ata will hit the screens for the matinee shows on Friday. In fact, Dong ata was earlier slated to release on May 1 but was postponed due to these releases. However, once she heard that Ganga started its screening she immediately announced that she will be releasing her film on May 8.