Earlier this month, when Saudi Arabia announced that it’s going to lift the ban on cinema halls, it was hailed by filmmakers all over the world as a progressive move. The country had shut down cinema halls in the 80s and since then, it was left out of the movie business who continued to flourish in adjoining countries like Kuwait and UAE over the past few years.
Now, with cinema halls expected to open from March, 2018, the makers of Rajinikanth’s 2.O are hoping to release their film in Saudi Arabia. If all goes well, it could be the first Tamil film to release theatrically in the West Asian country.
Raju Mahalingam, the creative head of Lyca Productions, told a leading portal, “The overall revenue for a big film production can increase by 30%. Since movies have now begun to open in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu in India, we hope to release them in all three languages in Saudi Arabia too. A new market in West Asia, where a substantial number of Tamil and Malayalees stay, will be a big boost for our movies”. Directed by Shankar, 2.O stars Rajinikanth, Amy Jackson, and Akshay Kumar in lead roles, and it’s expected to release in April, 2018.