Kamal Haasan’s movie ‘Vishwaroopam’ released today to packed houses in Tamil Nadu. The shows as early as 6 AM were sold out.

Kamal Haasan’s fans celebrated the release of the movie by bursting crackers and pouring milk over his cut-outs.

The actor thanked his fans for the support.

Thank you India. Thank You Tamil Nadu. See to it that artistes like me don't get into trouble again," said a hugely-relieved Kamal Haasan to a daily.

“I don't know how I will repay the support and love of my fans. I'm so proud that they maintained harmony in troubled times,” he added.

The movie ‘Vishwaroopam’ was banned by the Tamil Nadu government after Muslim groups protested over the content of the movie.  The two week ban lead to an outcry by Kamal Haasan’s fans, bitter court battle and threat of self-exile by the actor.

But recently Kamal Haasan met up with the Muslim groups and agreed to a truce with them. Earlier the actor had refused to edit his movie but later conceded to the demands humbly and edited a few scenes accordingly.

But the actor maintained that the ‘creative freedom’ wasn’t comprised as he had to edit just a few scenes rather than edit the movie by an hour like it was demanded earlier.

‘Vishwaroopam’ is written, produced and directed by Kamal Haasan himself. The 95 crore espionage stars Kamal Haasan, Rahul Bose, Jaideep Ahlawat, Pooja Kumar, Andrea Jeremiah and Shekhar Kapur.

Earlier the movie was scheduled to release first on Direct-To-Home (DTH) platform before its theatrical release. This decision by the actor stirred a protest by the theater owners who refused to release the movie and threatened to boycott all of the actor’s future endeavors.

Even though the actor has failed to release ‘Vishwaroopam’ on DTH he hasn’t given up hope yet.

“The situation has changed now and I'm hoping for a positive outcome. I'm still in talks with DTH operators, so let's wait," he said.

Kamal Haasan is also thinking of making a sequel for the movie.

“‘Vishwaroopam 2’ is in its pre-production phase. I'll start shooting for it very soon,” the actor concluded.