Sidharth Malhotra, Kiara Advani’s ‘Shershaah’ to skip Bollywood theatrical release

The pandemic has struck another Bollywood release, with news filtering down that ‘Shershaah’ will skip a theatrical showcase to head directly to digital.

Starring Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani in the lead, the Kargil War drama has reportedly been snapped up by Amazon Prime Video and they are looking to time its release with the Indian Independence Day on August 15.

Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions, which is backing the project, along with Shabbir Boxwala, has yet to confirm the reports but trade insiders are confident the July 3 cinematic release, which had been planned for the project, will not go ahead considering the COVID-19 pandemic has still levied restrictions on outings in India.

A source told News18: “The producers have decided to skip the theatrical release considering the current situation that’s getting unpredictable each passing day. The deal between the makers and Amazon Prime Video is said to have been more or less locked and they will make the announcement as soon as the paperwork is completed. The makers are contemplating on release the film next month.”

What we know for certain is that the film is based on the life of India’s Captain Vikram Batra, who died in the Kargil War and was honoured with the Param Vir Chakra (India’s highest military decoration, awarded for displaying distinguished acts of valour during wartime) posthumously. Malhotra will play Batra and his identical twin brother Vishal Batra.

Directed by Vishnuvardhan, ‘Shershaah’ also stars Javed Jaaferi and Shiv Pandit among others.

This is the first film to star rumoured couple Malhotra and Advani together.