Kamala and Udhayam theatres in Chennai choose not to screen Rajinikanth's Kaala

With Kaala set for release in around 600 theatres tomorrow, there have been reports on social media that ticket sales for the film have not matched those of earlier Rajinikanth films. Adding fuel to the fire, two key theatres in Chennai - Kamala Cinemas and Udhayam - have announced that they will not be screening the Ranjith-directorial, as they have opted to show Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom instead.

Early reports suggested that this was a reaction to Kaala distributors coaxing these theatre owners to sell their tickets well above the government approved rates. But, Wunderbar Films, the production house of Kaala, was quick to clarify things on Twitter. "Kamala and Udhayam theaters have not expressed their consent to the terms that's been agreed by other cinemas. News going around saying huge demands were put forth is absolutely false and baseless," they tweeted.

When CE contacted Shanmuga Sundaram, director of Udhayam cinemas, for a response, he refuted Wunderbar's statement and termed it 'completely untrue'. "Despite being willing to screen Rajinikanth's Kaala, we were not approached by any representatives of the production company or the distributors. Similar situations have happened earlier during the release of  Sivaji and Kabali, but we always managed to screen the film at the last minute." Shanmuga Sundaram also says that he is totally unaware of the terms and conditions mentioned by Wunderbar cinemas in their tweet.