Tamil Nadu Theater and Multiplex Owners Association president M. subramaniamknown as Tiruppur Subramaniamconfirmed the news that some multiplexes that had screened the film had decided to withdraw it.
“The film was shown only in a few multiplexes owned by all-India groups, mostly PVR, Locally owned multiplexes had already decided not to screen the film, as it did not have any popular stars. For example, Coimbatore has had two shows so far – one on Friday and the other on Saturday. Even he didn’t do well. Given this, theaters decided that it was not worth going through protests and such threats,” Subramaniam said.
On 6 April, Nama Tamilar Katchi (NTK) protested against the film’s release in Chennai. Seeman, the party’s coordinator, who is also an actor and director, protested along with NTK cadres. Anna Nagar Arch,
film industry tracker Sridhar Pillaiwho said he was planning to watch the film on Sunday, only to find that it was no longer shown, also tweeted that film multiplexes would stop screening “Kerala Story”.
“Multiplex owners have cited potential law and order issues and lack of interest as reasons for the move,” Pillai said.
Meanwhile, in Kerala, according to distributors, E4 Entertainment, 22 screens across the state are screening the film. Although theater owners in Kerala told the Press Trust of India ahead of the film’s release that they were not concerned about adverse publicity, on the day of release, May 5, some theatres, including PVR Cinemas at Lulu Mall and Oberon Mall In Kochi, decided not to screen the film.
When contacted, a spokesperson for PVR Cinemas declined to comment.