After many uncertainties, Tamil superstar Vikram’s much-anticipated Veera Dheera Sooran is all set to release in theatres this evening. While the release of the SU Arunkumar-directorial was stalled for four weeks by the Delhi High Court earlier today, the latest update comes after the producer and distributor reached an amicable settlement.
HR Pictures, the banner backing the film, announced the news on their official X handle.
Meanwhile, Arunkumar issued a video statement apologising to the audiences for any and all hassle that might have happened due to the cancellation of the morning and afternoon shows today. “I thank the fans of Vikram sir, who have eagerly been waiting to watch the film, and the distributors, theatre owner and my colleagues from the film fraternity for supporting us and standing with us during this issue,” he added.
What’s Veera Dheera Sooran all about?
Veera Dheera Sooran is an action thriller headlined by Tamil superstar Vikram and directed by Arunkumar, best known for helming titles like Sethupathi and Chithha. Also starring Suraj Venjaramoodu, SJ Suryah and Dushara Vijayan, the film has music by GV Prakash Kumar. Theni Eswar has served as the cinematographer, while the editing is by Prasanna GK. Riya Shibu is producing the film under her HR Pictures banner.
The cause behind the chaos:
Earlier today, the release of Veera Dheera Sooran was stalled for a period of four weeks by the Delhi High Court over a legal dispute involving IVY Entertainment Private Limited, which had the exclusive rights with respect to the film in Hindi and North Indian languages, and HR Pictures.
The court had said that the postponement of the release of the film is subject to IVY Entertainment depositing a sum of Rs. 7 crores with HR Pictures within 24 hours. “Upon receipt of the Rs. 7 crores, the defendant (HR Pictures) shall immediately provide the Before Release Materials and Theatrical Release Materials to the plaintiff (IVY) within 48 hours as stipulated in Article 4 of the Assignment Agreement,” the court had said.
The court noted that HR Pictures has assigned sole and exclusive rights concerning the film in Hindi and North Indian languages in favour of the IVY Entertainment in perpetuity, including theatrical rights and non-linear rights, digital and online rights, etc., in all languages.
HR Pictures retained the theatrical rights and linear rights of the film in other languages for release in India in the States of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Pondicherry as well as overseas (except for Nepal).
IVY Entertainment had agreed to pay Rs. 51 crores in tranches for these exclusive rights; however, it has till now paid an amount of Rs. 44 crores to the HR Pictures, which constitutes close to 40 per cent of the total cost incurred by the production of the film. Admittedly only the last tranche of Rs. 7 crores remain outstanding.
IVY Entertainment had moved the court earlier this week contending that HR Pictures hadn’t provided the Theatrical Release Materials as well as the Before Release Materials.
IVY Entertainment had also stated that it was imperative it negotiate the assignment of digital rights with the OTT platforms before the movie was theatrically released to secure the best bargain. It said that if the digital rights were not negotiated at this stage and if the film fails at the Box Office on its theatrical release, its capacity to negotiate the deal would be severely diminished.
On the other hand, HR Pictures responded that approximately 15,000 tickets for the film have already been sold. It said that IVY Entertainment was not the sole distributor of the film and that several other distributors would suffer losses if the date of release is postponed.
Now, the two parties seem to have found an amicable solution, after which the stay on the film’s release was vacated.
(With inputs from Soibam Rocky Singh)
Published – March 27, 2025 05:03 pm IST
