Thangalaan: Madras High Court Dismisses Ban Over Chiyaan Vikram Starrer OTT Release

Chiyaan Vikram starrer Thangalaan was released in theatres on August 15. The movie was long anticipated to perform well at the box office. However, upon release it underperformed at the box office in India, racking just around ₹72 crore. Owing to the box office failure makers decided to release the movie on OTT but owing to a plea challenging the online release, it remained unreleased.

In the latest development, the PIL filed in the Madras High Court by a person named Porkodi from Thiruvallur has been withdrawn. This has paved the way for the online release of the movie which has been directed by PA Ranjith.

Thangalaan OTT ban plea withdrawn

A division bench of Chief Justice KR Sriram and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy in its October 19 order noted the submissions and dismissed the case as withdrawn. The plea claimed that the movie targeted Vaishnavites, per Live Law. The plea claimed that the movie speaks about Buddhism and shows religious variation between Vaishnavites and Buddhists by showing Vaishnavites in a comic role and Buddhists in a sacred role.

However, the Madras High Court dismissed the ban saying the film has been certified by the Censor Board and released in theatres, hence ban on OTT release cannot be imposed.

When will Thangalaan release on OTT?

As the legal hurdle has been withdrawn, now, the audience can expect the movie to premiere on an OTT platform around Diwali .

Apart from Vikram, the movie also stars Parvathy Thiruvothu, Malavika Mohanan, Daniel Caltagirone, Pasupathy and Hari Krishnan. The story revolves around a fierce tribal leader from the British Raj era, who sets out to stop an apparent sorceress, after earning her wrath when assisting a British general in tracing gold in their village.

The Hindi version of the film was released on September 6 and emerged as a sleeper hit in Hindi. The film grossed ₹72–100 crore in India against a budget of ₹100–150 crore, emerging as a box-office flop.