Upendra’s UI release plans: Early morning shows on the cards?

Preparations are on in full swing for the release of Real Star Upendra’s UI in Karnataka. KVN Productions has taken on the distribution responsibility of UI in the state. OTTplay spoke to the banner’s business head Suprith about the release plans, possibility of paid premieres and early morning shows, advance booking, etc.

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UI release plans in Karnataka

“UI will get a good release in Karnataka, because there are no other big-ticket movies on that date other than Mufasa and that will affect us only in multiplexes. We are targeting around 225-250 screens in the state with over 1,000 shows. The lion’s share of this will, no doubt, be for the Kannada original, but we will allocate a few shows in other language versions also, depending on demand,” he says.

Will the highly-anticipated film have early access paid premieres the previous evening? “That’s not on the cards. We want to make the film available to all audiences at the same time on December 20,” Suprith replies. Surely, there must be early morning shows then? “Yes, there will be early morning shows, but we are not aiming for anything between midnight and 6 am. We will follow the rule book and plan the film’s first show as per government regulations. A final decision on this will be made by Monday,” he adds.

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As for the online advance bookings, Suprith tells us that it will open only by December 18 or 19. “Bookings for the non-Kannada versions in other centres will open earlier. In Karnataka, we will begin bookings once multiplex show schedules are also finalized,” he says.

UI, produced by KP Srikanth and G Manoharan, is Upendra’s return to direction after nearly a decade. The film’s been shrouded in secrecy, with the actor-filmmaker making no bones about not wanting to share glimpses from it before the release. Whatever is in the public domain now is what he released strictly for business reasons.