The real reason behind the cancellation of 96 early morning shows

On Thursday (4th Oct), when people gathered en masse to witness the Vijay Sethupathi-Trisha starrer, 96, at 6 AM, pouring rains notwithstanding, little did they expect to go back home disappointed. But the shows were cancelled, and they had to go back. While early morning shows getting cancelled are not new to Tamil cinema, the reason this time was new. An audio note started circulating that it was Vishal, the erstwhile president of Tamil Nadu Producers Council, who had stopped the release. News has now emerged that it was an internal issue between the producer of 96, G Nandagopal of Madras Enterprises, and actor-producer Vishal.

It all reportedly started with a project involving Vishal and Nandagopal, for which the actor had arranged for funds to the tune of 1.5 crores. With Nandagopal not able to pay it back in time, there was a tripartite agreement signed between the producer and actor in front of the TFPC stating that the funds will be returned prior to the release of 96. But after the midnight deadline passed and the producer was not able to pay the money back, the film's first show was cancelled. Hearing this, Vijay Sethupathi, the film's lead, promised to bear responsibility for the 1.5 crores owed to Vishal and had initiated the process of release.

We are reliably told that once Vishal heard this, he did not want to put Vijay Sethupathi into the same debt trap that he himself has supposedly experienced. He immediately cleared the release of the film, and took up ownership of the interest owed to him and asked Nandagopal to give him only the principal amount. The actor then wished Vijay Sethupathi and team success.

A source within the TFPC said, "This is good for Vijay Sethupathi who comes out of it as a magnanimous person. While Vijay Sethupathi's efforts were because of his trust in the film, certain forces have manipulated his decision to paint Vishal as the villain, when in actuality, Vishal is the principal person who has been wronged and is taking a financial loss."