Two days after the Tamil Nadu government revoked the permission for Vijay starrer Leo to be screened as early as 4 am from the release date October 19, Seven Screen Studios has appealed to the Madras High Court (HC) to permit early morning shows. They have also sought the HC to permit additional shows from 7am onwards from October 19-24 citing the runtime of the film. The case will be heard on Tuesday, October 17. Leo is directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj and has a star studded cast including Vijay, Trisha, Mysskin, Sanjay Dutt, among others.
According to reports, Seven Screen Studios has said that since Leo’s runtime is 2 hours and 43 minutes and that theatres will not be able to play five shows between 9 am and 1:30am while ensuring that the mandatory 20 minute interval and the break of 40 minutes between each screening are provided.
The government order (GO) which was issued by Tamil Nadu’s Principal Secretary P Amudha, also said that the police must form special teams to monitor theatres so that there are no violations of the directives. “I therefore direct all Licensing Authorities to follow the above instructions scrupulously during the screening of special shows for the movie titled Leo and to take necessary action to ensure proper safety of the public and the audience visiting cinema halls, regulating traffic and to prevent exorbitant rates of admission during such shows,” the GO read.
Leo is one of the many big star movies that has not got permission for special early morning shows. Rajini starrer Jailer, directed by Nelson Dilipkumar, released in September this year but did not get permission for early morning screenings. Vijay’s previously released film this year- Varisu and Ajith’s Thunivu, which released in January 2023 also suffered a similar fate.