MUMBAI: Even as theatre owners in Tamil Nadu threaten to boycott Kamal Haasan‘s Vishwaroopam, Raaj Kamal Films International, the production company owned by the Tamil superstar, has gone ahead and signed up with third direct-to-home (DTH) operator Dish TV to premiere the movie one day before its theatrical release.

Vishwaroopam, the first ever Indian film to premiere on DTH before its theatrical release, had earlier signed up with Videocon d2h and Airtel digital TV.

Dish TV along with Videocon d2h and Airtel digital TV will showcase the movie on 10 January, one day before its theatrical release on 11 January.

Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Association and Madurai-Ramanathapuram United Film Distributors, who have been opposing the actor‘s decision, have threatened to boycott the film if the actor doesn‘t reconsider his decision. The theatre owners have also urged Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to intervene and protect their interests.

However, DTH operators feel the DTH premiere is an idea whose time has come. Even Haasan had made it clear that there was no going back on the decision to premiere it on DTH first.

Says Dish TV COO Salil Kapoor, "It is an idea whose time has come; we are glad that the movie fraternity is looking at this technology as a new revenue stream. As a pioneer in the DTH space, this is yet another first to Dish TV‘s credit.

This Indian spy thriller which is being writtend Directed and co-produced by Haasan is priced at Rs 1,000 per view for the Tamil version, if the subscriber books the order till 5 January. After 5 January, subscribers would need to pay Rs 1,200 per view.

The Hindi and Telugu versions of the movie are priced at Rs. 500. Tamil and Telugu versions are called Vishwaroopam and Hindi version of the same is named Vishwaroop.