Enthiran - Release

Release

Tamil movies are typically dubbed in Telugu and released. In August 2010, a few media reports claimed that Sun Pictures had sold the distribution rights of Robo, the Telugu version, to Telugu film producer Chadalavada Srinivasa Rao in Andhra Pradesh for 27 crore, who planned to release the film in the state under his banner 'Tirumala Tirupati Venkateswara Films'. The claim was later denied by Sun Pictures, who clarified that the company had not yet sold any distribution rights to anyone. Sun Pictures initially accused him of falsely claiming to have bought the rights. After an initial unsuccessful attempt to take legal action on Sun Pictures, Srinivasa Rao lodged a complaint with the Andhra Pradesh Film Chamber of Commerce against the film studio, claiming that they had been "defaming and cheating" him. A spokesperson from the company said that "We bought the rights for Rs 27 crore and sent them Rs 2 crore as advance. Sun Pictures, from Chennai, has also sent us a letter acknowledging our purchase. But they have now sold the rights to Thota Kanna Rao for a slightly higher price. We have been deliberately defamed and cops too are refusing to register a case against them here." A formal investigation was launched following a police complaint from Sun Pictures and two individuals, Udhayakumar, a production manager, and Surendran, his accomplice and employee of Tirumala films, were arrested for illegally trying to sell the film distribution rights by creating a fake document that claimed the distribution rights of Robo were to be sold to Srinivasa Rao.

A controversy regarding the film's plot also originated that month as Indian author Vijayarke claimed that Enthiran's story was similar to that of his 2002 science fiction novel, Man Robot, and demanded a credit for himself in the film. Vijayarke claimed that he realized the similarity after hearing S. Shankar narrate the plot during the film's audio launch, after which he emailed the director with his novel's story, seeking clarification. Yet another scandal broke out after the release of the film when a Tamil novelist, Aarur Thamizhnadan, made a complaint with the Greater Chennai Police against the director and producer of the Enthiran, claiming that they had plagiarised the story idea from his novel Jugiba that was published in a vernacular magazine Iniya Udhayam in 1996. In 2007, the same group published the novel as the book titled Thik Thik Dheepika. Arnika Nasar, a popular science fiction writer, also filed a case with the Chennai Police stating that the film was made by Shankar after he had "stolen" the central plot from a novel Nasar had published before in 1995.

On 1 October 2010, the film opened with 2,250 prints in approximately 3000 screens worldwide, including 1400 screens in Tamil Nadu, 128 screens in Kerala, 45 screens in Karnataka, and 1000 screens with 750 prints in North India. The film was released by Sun Pictures in Tamil Nadu; Gemini Film Circuit released the film across North India, while Seven Arts released the film in Kerala. The film opened in 300 screens overseas. Ficus Movies handled distribution of the film in its different languages in North America. The film was also screened at the 12th Mumbai International Film Festival, the 21st Bath Film Festival, the 10th Tromsø International Film Festival, and the 24th Tokyo International Film Festival where it won a special award under the section "Winds of Asia-Middle East".