The decision of actor Kamal Haasan to release his Tamil film `Viswaroopam' on Direct-To-Home (DTH) platform first has received strong opposition from theater owners, who have threatened to boycott not only this movie but also Kamal Haasan’s future projects.

But the actor is unfazed by the opposition and believes that releasing movie was "evolutionary growth" and insisted it was the "way to go forward."

“Like satellite television this (effort of releasing the movie on DTH) is an evolutionary growth...The monetization is very well-planned and we debated it with DTH companies without disturbing the ecosystem of the (cinema) business. This is the way to go forward,” said Kamal Haasan to PTI.

The actor claimed that this was a `first-of-its-kind` initiative across the globe.

“This is a `first-of-its-kind` initiative across the globe and it is in no way an experiment as we are making use of the technology and money which is already there. In such a case the content developer will also benefit monetarily and enough anti-piracy technology has been incorporated,” he said.

“There would be no advertisement and the movie will be shown by five DTH providers on January 10, a day ahead of the film`s release in theatre,” he added.

The actor recently announced a tie-up with Airtel DTH, one of the firms that will telecast his film on January 10, next year, he said the film would be released in 390-odd theatres but the aim was to take it to 450 in the state.

Along with Kamal Haasan the movie also stars Rahul Bose, filmmaker Shekhar Kapoor and Andrea Jeremiah.