Suriya-Trisha's 'Karuppu' in limbo? Theatres flag delays

Just hours before the May 14 release of the action drama, the special 9 am shows, which were approved by Chief Minister Vijay, were cancelled, with theatre owners flagging financial struggles.

It seems that hurdles for Suriya-Trisha's highly anticipated movie Karuppu are far from over. After getting stuck in a circle of last-minute delays, the film's release has now been clouded with uncertainty, or at least, too many delays and cancelled shows.

Just hours before the May 14 release of the action drama, the special 9 am shows, which were earlier approved by Chief Minister Vijay, were cancelled with theatre owners flagging financial struggles.

While the film's 11:30 am and onwards shows are still listed on some theatres, as seen on BookMyShow, a couple of cinemas in Chennai, including Gayathri Cinemas and Jothi Theatre, have discontinued booking for all shows scheduled for Thursday. Whether it is because of some server or technical error, or because of the film's potential delay still remains unclear.

Several theatres in Malaysia have issued official notices stating that Karuppu's release has been delayed due to unavoidable reasons.

A post by Golden Screen Cinemas reads, "We’d like to inform you that #Karuppu has been delayed. Refunds will be issued for affected sessions — we’ll keep you posted as more details become available."

A post by TGV Cinemas read, "The release of 'Karuppu' has been delayed. We are currently waiting for updates and refunds will be given to affected sessions."

Sri Sakthi Cinemas has also posted an Instagram Story updating fans that all the morning and afternoon shows of Karuppu are cancelled.

With all the last-minute delays and cancellation of morning and afternoon shows of the film, all eyes are on whether the film's release can come back on track with the evening shows. An official announcement about the screening of the evening shows scheduled for May 14 is awaited.

With the last-minute delays and changes come a lot of speculations. An X user, claiming to be providing all the latest updates about movies across Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, English and Telugu cinema industries said in a post that "Negotiations are still going… waiting for a Positive result soon."

Now, it's yet to be seen what does the future hold for the remaining shows scheduled for May 14 of the RJ Balaji directorial.