Vijay and SJ Suryah in Mersal
Vijay and SJ Suryah in Mersal.PR Handout

Vijay's upcoming movie Mersal ran into trouble in Kerala as the Film Distributors' Association has reportedly given a call to the exhibitors not to screen the Ilayathalapathy film owing to the losses the distributors suffered from the actor's previous film Bairavaa.

According to the reports, the Film Distributors' Association has asked the theatres not to screens Mersal until the issues pertaining to Bairavaa are sorted out. The distributors want a compensation for the losses they incurred due to the poor performance of Vijay's last flick.

The collections of Bairavaa had taken a toll after theatres affiliated to the Kerala Film Exhibitor's Federation went on a strike when the movie hit the screens. As a result, the Kerala theatrical rights of the Tamil movie acquired by IFAR International and Sayujam suffered huge losses.

However, Global United Media has acquired the Kerala theatrical rights of Vijay's latest film Mersal and they are confident of a hassle-free release in the God's Own Country. They find no rationality in the boycott call given by the Film Distributors' Association as they were not associated with Vijay's previous flick.

They have plans to release Mersal in over 250 screens in Kerala.

Mersal is written and directed by Atlee Kumar, who previously collaborated with Vijay for the hit film Theri. The Atlee directorial has Samantha, Kajal Aggarwal and Nithya Menen playing the female leads.

While Vijay is enacting a triple role in Mersal, SJ Suryah is the antagonist. The film is set to hit the screens on 18 October.