Kaala will be the first Indian film releasing in Saudi Arabia.

On Thursday, Wunderbar Films posted a tweet: “This is Huge! #Kaala is the first-ever Indian film to be released in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia!”

Last year, Saudi Arabia announced that it would reopen movie theatres in the country by mid-2018. The ban was in place for over 35 years. The Ministry of Culture and Information said that it intends to have over 2,000 screens in the country by 2030.

Filmmakers and producers said that this announcement was exciting and would help more Indian films release in this untapped market in the near future. Industry observers said that this move will help film revenues go up by 15-20%.

Entertainment analyst Sreedhar Pillai said as a new market for the Tamil film industry, it can be built up over the years. He said: “There is a huge Indian population in that market and the Muslim population who live there love commercial films. The only challenge I see in this market is it would be difficult to get censor clearance. Since the doors have just opened, let’s wait and see,” he added.