MUMBAI : Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Eklavya – The Royal Guard has had teething trouble in southern India, with the first day shows of the film cancelled in many places.

A regular Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Chennai distributor, on condition of anonymity confirms this, saying, “Grand Alliances had acquired the Tamil Nadu and Kerala rights for the film from Eros. The film ran into trouble because of non-payments of the quoted amount at the last minute. Only four prints were delivered to Tamil Nadu on the night of 15 February 2007.”

According to the distributor, all four shows on the first day were cancelled in Salem and Cochin; while in Calicut, six shows had to be axed.  A cinema in Chennai, and one in Coimbatore too had to cancel a few shows. “R R Investments has released the film on Saturday in Cochin and Calicut. The shipments of the remaining prints were made on Friday only after receiving the payments.” the source says.