Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 27, 2015)

Kamal Haasan's upcoming Tamil film, Papanasam, is lining up for release on July 3. What is interesting is that it's a remake of Mohanlal's 2013 Malayalam film, Drishyam, as is Ajay Devgn's Drishyam. But the Hindi version will only arrive on July 31.

Papanasam's producer, Sitara Suresh Balaje, confirmed the news saying, "Yes, it is opening for sure on July 3. The ads in the papers are already carrying the date."

While the Hindi version is directed by Nishikant Kamat, the Tamil film has been written and directed by the original director, Jeethu Joseph.

"And since this is a repeat act for him, Jeethu will bring a lot more to the table. Also, Kamal Haasan is a superstar down South with a pan-India presence so I can see viewers in Mumbai enjoying the film which will release across the country with subtitles," says Ananth Narayan Mahadevan who plays the IG's husband and the father of the boy gone missing. Kamal is the father of the girl he was blackmailing. Ajay reprises Kamal's role and Rajat Kapoor's in the Hindi remake.

Will this cut into Drishyam's market, particularly down South? Ananth points out that the film has been remade in Kannada (Drishya, 2014) with V. Ravichandran and in Telugu (Drushyam, 2014) with Daggubati Venkatesh. Both did extremely well. "Now a Tamil remake is coming up. It'll be interesting to see how a fifth film on the same subject will fare. For us it's an advantage to have a clear four-week run before the Hindi remake arrives," says Ananth.

The Hindi film's director, Nishikant Kamat is unfazed. He says, "Our rendition and treatment of the story is very different. The power of the story of Drishyam will make it successful in any language."