Suspenseful day for film-goers on Deepavali Day

After a great media build- up running up to the release of as many as seven or eight Tamil movies on Deepavali Day (Oct.21), the film-goers were in for suspense and waiting till the last minute.

Sources close to producers and distributors themselves were appeared to be in

confusion and they could not give any plausible reasons. Advance bookings opened late only for four of the new movies which are Sarath Kumar's 100th film "Thalaimagan", Arya-starrer "Vattaram", Jeeva-starrer "E" and Ajit-starrer "Valarasu".

The three others -Arjun-starrer Vaathiar, the Vijayakanth-starrer "Dharmapuri" and Simbu's "Vallavan" were not released for morning shows on Saturday. After dallying for hours, "Dharmapuri" and "Vallavan" made it to theatres in Chennai on Saturday evening. Sources in the distribution sector said only a few shows of "Dharmapuri" and "Vallavan" were missed on the opening day.

The suspense about "Vaathiar" remained with rumors doing the rounds that this film would be out only next month, most probably on Nov.3. However, the film was released in some theatres later in the evening ending the suspense.

"Vattaram", directed by Saran, was the first to be released not only in Tamil Nadu but also in Malaysia and Singapore. The film featuring Arya and Napoleon was one which brought some cheer to the otherwise crestfallen film-goers early on Deepavali day and raised their hopes of seeing more new films that day. On the first day alone more than 160 shows of "Vattaram" were screened in 27 theatres in Chennai and Chengalpattu, said to be a record by itself. No other

producer did so much of groundwork as Saran did to reach out to the audiences in time. At least on this count Saran scores over others.

Notably, there are no biggies like a Rajini, Kamal, and Vijay or Vikram film; still it is an exciting fare from young and seasoned heroes.