Fans and filmmakers in India are on tenterhooks as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in India, resulting in a second wave of films facing a delayed release. Amidst this drama, there is now speculation that Akshay Kumar’s ‘Sooryavanshi’ could also be affected by this.
The Reliance Entertainment production, which has been directed by Rohit Shetty and also stars Katrina Kaif in the lead, is currently scheduled to release on April 30 in India after nearly a one year delay on account of the pandemic that struck in 2020.
However, a report in Times of India cites a source who is stating that the new night curfew in Mumbai and rising cases has created a dilemma for production houses to push their releases further.
“With the suspension of night shows due to night curfews in cities like Mumbai and an atmosphere of uncertainty, it’s a huge risk for a big budget film to release in theatres at this point. Given people’s safety concerns, the film is unlikely to release on April 30,” the source was quoted as telling the Indian daily.
According to industry insiders, the makers are currently contemplating on a couple of options: a direct web release; take a page out of the Warner Bros. playbook for a simultaneous theatrical and streaming release; or have the film out on a web platform in 14 days after theatrical release.
The production house also has the cricketing biopic awaiting release with ‘‘83’, starring Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone, currently scheduled to release in cinemas on June 4 in India.
On March 30, the Amitabh Bachchan and Emraan Hashmi starrer ‘Chehre’, which was to release on April 9 in theatres, was pushed indefinitely due to the rise in COVID-19 cases. Earlier, ‘Haathi Mere Saathi’ also skipped the release of its Hindi version for the same reasons.
‘Sooryavanshi’ is scheduled to be the first big release to hit Indian cinemas after the pandemic struck, the action thriller the latest instalment in Shetty’s cop universe, which also includes ‘Singham’ and ‘Simmba’. Lead stars Ajay Devgn, and Singh, who starred in the films have a cameo in ‘Sooryavanshi’.
