Aamir Khan is a relieved man after overcoming the legal hurdles that threatened to stall the release of his ambitious film 'Ghajini' but the whole experience has left him "traumatised."

The film's release was stayed earlier over alleged copyright violations. The stay was vacated and the movie has released as per schedule. "'Ghajini' is finally releasing as per schedule on 25th December...The last 24 hours have been most traumatic," Aamir wrote in a blog post.

'Ghajini' is the Hindi version of a Tamil film. Aamir plays the lead character in the film and has been closely involved with it. Talking about the controversy over the copyright, the actor says, "In fact on Wednesday I had written a post, which I was just about to uplink when I heard about the problem, and then I didn't post it. Am putting it below. Am emotionally totally drained."

But the film was released and got a "bumper opening" worldwide. "It's a well made film even though the length is a slight hitch," trade analyst Amod Mehra said. The advance booking for the film is four times more than the record opening any movie has ever got, Khan said.

According to trade sources, the film has been released with nearly 1,500 prints. The paid previews all over India on Wednesday have boosted its box office collections, they said.

Critics said, despite flaws in the story, the treatment and presentation made all the difference. "Asin is a lively actress and poses a serious threat to all present leading Bollywood heroines. Aamir is the soul of the film. However, its length should have been trimmed by half an hour," they said.

Decks were cleared for the smooth release of the film, entangled in copyright issues, after Madras High Court lifted the stay and Bombay High Court refused to grant a stay on it on Wednesday.

The three hour and four minute long film, written and directed by AR Murugadoss, is the remake of a 2005 Tamil film by the same name starring actors Asin and Surya in the lead. The film was also dubbed in Telugu.