Anniyan, which is all set to storm the theatres tomorrow, has many firsts to his credit.

Importantly it is the first film in Tamil to get institutional finance (from IDBI). Trade sources estimate that it could be in the range of Rs 12 to 15 crores. The dubbed version in Telugu, Aparichithudu, has been sold at a record price as Shankar's Boys was a huge hit in Andhra and Vikram too has a good market there.

Anniyan is also the first movie to be insured by its producer Oscar Ravichandran. Making a film with such a huge budget obviously needs insurance cover, says a producer.

Many big-budgeted movies when they fail leave a huge impact on the life of the producer and no doubt Ravichandran has done the best thing by insuring the movie,he says.

Speaking about the movie, Shankar says "I started Anniyan last year and since I work with a full-length script. It took me 14 months to complete the film. It has 63 scenes and all of them were executed with great care and pain".

Vikram himself has given 140 days of call-sheet ---- one of the longest that any hero has given for any movie.

Technical marvels and Shankar are inseparable. And so in Anniyan too the director has tried his best to give a technically rich film. "For the first time in Indian films we have used the time-slicing technique used earlier in The Matrix. Time-slicing is about numerous stills on a camera system consisting of 120 cameras, a special ring and precise control in post-production to achieve a frozen-time effect," he says.

Meanwhile, there has been a huge clamor for the film's ticket in Tamil Nadu.

With all tickets for the first week sold out in a couple of hours on Tuesday, Anniyan has created a huge expectation among the masses.

At the prestigious Sathyam Complex, all 28 shows for opening week have been sold out. Ditto on other theatres in Chennai. So much so, theatres are now contemplating to open advance bookings for the second week too.

Elsewhere, in other States too the situation is similar. In Kerala Anniyan is releasing in two theatres simultaneously in 10 towns just like any top Malayalam hero's film.

In Andhra, where it is releasing as Aparichithudu, things have reached a fever pitch.

So if you are looking for tickets to Anniyan, the only person to be reached are Oscar Ravichanran, Shankar and Vikram. But sources say that they have switched off their mobiles.

Anniyan sure has created history much before its release. And more is in the waiting.

Now the countdown starts...