MUMBAI: Controversies pay in the film world. For Kamal Haasan, it must have been worth swallowing all the problems his movie Vishwaroopam generated over its proposed release on the direct-to-home (DTH) platform ahead of the theatrical debut. Even as Haasan had to concede to the powerful film exhibition community and defer the DTH release, his much talked about magnum opus action thriller has crossed the Rs one billion mark at the box office.

Actor Rahul Bose tweeted the milestone achievement on the micro blogging website, "Just received figures of the all India box office collections of Vishwaroopam. 120 crores and counting. Superb! Vishwaroopam‘s the first film I‘ve been a part of that‘s made over 100 crores. Congratulations to the team and mr haasan especially!"

Bose plays the antagonist in the film. Other stars include Pooja Kumar, Andrea Jeremiah and Shekhar Kapur.

The movie has been marred with controversies even before its release. The first tangle it got itself into was when actor-director Hasaan decided to release the movie on DTH platform before its theatrical release. Just when the issue of Vishwaroopam‘s release was resolved, Muslim bodies in Tamil Nadu opposed the movie since it showed the community in bad light which resulted in the movie being banned from release in Tamil Nadu.

The film released worldwide on 25 January but in Tamil Nadu it hit the theatres as late as 7 February. Despite the delays and controversies, the film seems to have caught the fancy of the audiences.

The film was also released in Hindi by the name Vishwaroop. This version, though, has failed to attract audiences since it has managed to rake in just Rs 117.5 million in its first week.