Action Prince Dhruva Sarja’s Martin is finally coming to theatres. On October 11, the AP Arjun directorial will release as the big Dasara offering. Considering it is a festival release – October 11 is Ayudha Pooja) – and that Martin is in direct competition with Superstar Rajinikanth’s Vettaiyan, the question on everyone’s mind is if the makers will look at having the film out as early as possible to drum up positive word-of-mouth publicity.

No EMS for Dhruva Sarja's Martin?

In fact, late last evening, when the advance booking of Martin opened online, there was a 12 am fan show as well as a few 4 am shows listed across a few single-screen theatres. Later, though, these shows were removed, with all theatres that have opened advance bookings starting with 9 am shows as the earliest. The word from the film team is that DI (digital intermediate) work is still ongoing and hence, the midnight and early morning shows have been cancelled. 

So far, though, the response to the advance bookings has been less than stellar, with Martin registering only one fast-filling show. This, say netizens, is because even the target audience will be busy with festival celebrations, which is a disadvantage for the film. Multiplexes are yet to open booking for Martin. Ticket price for Martin is going at Rs 200-Rs 250 at most single-screen theatres.

According to reports, so far, around one thousand tickets have been booked for Martin in Bengaluru, which is expected to get better once multiplex shows are opened. The problem with Martin is that none of the promotional material released so far - trailer 1, romantic song Jeeva Neene and Anthem of Martin – managed to create buzz for the film.

Instead, the film has been talked about for the cheating case regarding the delayed VFX work, allegations against director AP Arjun, which kept him away from promotional activities for a while, among others. Some netizens also feel Dhruva’s veiled comments about a certain actor and his fandom, has also negatively impacted the film.

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