With COVID-19 restrictions easing, Bollywood is back in business with 15 films locking in release dates

If the sudden lull in Bollywood releases had you down, then here’s a bit of good news. With COVID-19 restrictions releasing across the Indian state of Maharashtra, Bollywood is back in business, readying several projects for a theatrical outing. Here’s what’s confirmed so far:

‘Jhund’ (March 4): After many delays, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan’s upcoming sports film ‘Jhund’ is now going to release on March 4. The film was earlier scheduled to release in September 2020 and then was pushed to June 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The movie is based on the life of Vijay Barse, the founder of Slum Soccer. ‘Jhund’ is directed by Nagraj Popatrao Manjule.

‘Radhe Shyam’ (March 11): Prabhas’ highly-anticipated film ‘Radhe Shyam’ has finally locked in a new release date. The romantic drama, which also stars Pooja Hegde, will now hit the big screens on March 11. The ‘Baahubali’ actor took to his Instagram to share the new release date along with a new poster of the romantic drama. Directed by Radha Krishna Kumar, the film is produced by Bhushan Kumar, Vamsi and Pramod. ‘Radhe Shyam’ will release in five languages: Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam. Set in the 1970s, ‘Radhe Shyam’ features Prabhas as Vikramaditya, who falls in love with Prerana (Hegde) but worries their affair is doomed based on the stars.

‘Bachchan Pandey’ (March 18): Akshay Kumar plays the titular character in ‘Bachchan Pandey’, with Kriti Sanon, Jacqueline Fernandez and Arshad Warsi as his co-stars. In the Farhad Samji directorial, Kumar reportedly plays a gangster who aspires to be an actor, while Sanon is playing a journalist who wishes to be a director.

‘RRR’ (March 25): The wait is finally over. After missing its theatrical release multiple times due to COVID-19, SS Rajamouli’s directorial ‘RRR’ has now got a new release date in March 25. The film is a fictional tale on the younger days of freedom fighters Komaram Bheem and Alluri Seetharamaraju. Ram Charan, Alia Bhatt, Jr NTR and Ajay Devgn are a part of the upcoming film. The new release date announcement comes just two days after Rajamouli announced on January 31 that his highly-anticipated film ‘RRR’ will release on March 25 after multiple delays.

'Attack' (April 1): John Abraham is back at doing what he does best — beating up bad guys on screen. This time around, the Bollywood action man appears to be playing a desi Robocop in ‘Attack’ where he stars as a part-human, part-cyborg killing machine who is working hard to rid his city of evil.also features Jacqueline Fernandez, along with Rakul Preet Singh. Produced by Abraham’s JA Entertainment, the film has Jacqueline Fernandez playing his doting lover, while Rakul Preet Singh appears to be a tech whiz who is behind the lead star’s Robocop avatar. Directed by Lakshya Raj Anand and releasing on April 1, it is unclear whether the film is an official remake of the Hollywood produced ‘RoboCop’ (1987), which starred Peter Weller as Officer Alex James Murphy, a member of the Detroit Police Department, who is killed in the line of duty and later resurrected as the cyborg law enforcement unit, RoboCop.

‘KGF Chapter 2’ (April 14): ‘KGF Chapter 2’, which also stars Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, is directed by Prashanth Neel. The story continues on from the first instalment that sees actor Yash play the criminal mastermind Rocky who lands in Mumbai to seek power and wealth in order to fulfil a promise to his dying mother. In the second instalment he faces off Dutt’s Adheera. The film also stars Srinidhi Shetty, along with Raveena Tandon and Prakash Raj.

‘Jersey’ (April 14): A day after Aamir Khan decided to hold back the release of his film ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’, the makers of ‘Jersey’ have swooped in to lock in the April 14 date now lying vacant. The sports-themed Bollywood film, which stars Shahid Kapoor and Mrunal Thakur in the lead, was scheduled to release in 2021, but was postponed on account of COVID-19. The movie finally locked in a date for December 31 last year, but due to restrictions being announced in parts of India at the time, the film was pulled from release last minute. ‘Jersey’ tells the story of a middle-aged cricketer, who gets back into the game for the love of his son. The film is directed by Gowtam Tinnanuri and is the official remake of a 2019 Telugu film of the same name, which featured Nani and Shraddha Srinath in the lead.

‘Heropanti 2’ (April 29): Action man Tiger Shroff returns to the sequel of ‘Heropanti’, which appears to be a new story from his first outing with Kriti Sanon. The Ahmed Khan directorial sees Shroff play a messiah of sorts who gets involved with the Russians in a case of mistaken identity and finds himself on the run. Tara Sutaria stars as well.

‘Runway 34’ (April 29): The Bollywood film, which stars Ajay Devgn, Amitabh Bachchan and Rakul Preet Singh, is reportedly based on a 2015 incident where a Jet Airways from Doha to Kochi averted disaster after it was unable to land due to bad weather and faced similar issues when it was diverted to another airport, which also resulted in a fuel crisis and the pilot forced to call a mayday. While he is directing and producing the film, Devgn will also be essaying a pivotal role of a pilot in the film.

‘Anek’ (May 13): Ayushmann Khurrana’s ‘Anek’ has locked in a summer release date of May 13. Produced by Bhushan Kumar, director Anubhav Sinha reunites with Khurrana after working with the actor on ‘Article 15’. ‘Anek’ is being touted as a hard-hitting socio-political drama shot in the North East of India. “‘Anek’ is based on a subject that concerns our country at a deep-rooted level. The film is set in a certain social context and aims to celebrate the diversity of our nation. It was an incredibly difficult film to make. We shot it in locales hard to navigate and in times that were the most difficult. But the film feels like a triumph of our spirit and I am so proud of what we’ve created,” Sinha told ANI.

‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’ (May 20): Kartik Aaryan steps into Akshay Kumar’s shoes for this horror comedy. The sequel to the 2007 film feature Kiara Advani and Tabu as well, while Anees Bazmee is helming the project. The original was the official Hindi remake of the 1993 Malayalam comedy psychological thriller, ‘Manichitrathazhu’. Aaryan’s film was scheduled to hit theatres on March 25, however, that would have put it on a direct path to clash with the mammoth period film ‘RRR’.

'Dhaakad' (May 27): Kangana Ranaut-starrer ‘Dhaakad’ has set a new release date, with the film now releasing in theatres on May 27. Informing the fans about the new release date, Ranaut took to Instagram and to make the announcement. “The unstoppable force of #AgentAgni is fast approaching! The action spy thriller #Dhaakad will set the big screen on fire in 4 languages - Hindi, Tamil, Telugu & Malayalam on 27th May, 2022.” According to Ranaut, her character will blow everyone’s minds. “The film had to be made on a certain scale that had to be tailored to the vast vision of its makers. India has never seen a women action entertainer of this scale,” she added. Helmed by Razneesh Ghai, ‘Dhaakad’ was previously scheduled to open in theatres in October 2021. However, the film got delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic. Arjun Rampal and Divya Dutta are also a part of ‘Dhaakad’, which is produced by Deepak Mukut and Sohel Maklai and co-produced by Hunar Mukut.

'Shamshera' (July 22): Ranbir Kapoor fans have been waiting to see the actor back in action after the 2018 film ‘Sanju’, and it looks like the wait is finally over as one of his highly anticipated movies ‘Shamshera’ is set to release soon. The upcoming film, which also stars Vaani Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt, is slated to hit theatres in India on July 22. While there is no official confirmation about the plot details, previous reports have claimed that it’s a new take on the dacoits of pre-Independence India. The upcoming film, helmed by Karan Malhotra, is said to be a dacoit drama set in the 19th century. It will chronicle the story of a dacoit tribe fighting for their right and independence from the British.

‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ (August 11): Aamir Khan’s production house has announced the upcoming ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ will not be releasing in April as planned, with the film now postponed to August. In a statement issued on the Aamir Khan Productions’ Instagram account, the makers informed fans of the delay. “This is to announce that our film. Laal Singh Chaddha, will not be releasing on 14th April as planned. This is because we are unable to complete the film in time. The film will now be releasing on 11 Aug 2022 in theatres worldwide,” read the statement. The statement further revealed that ‘Adipurush’, which was scheduled to release on August 11, has now been postponed to accommodate Khan’s film.

'Raksha Bandhan' (August 11): Clashing with Aamir Khan's 'Laal Singh Chaddha' is Akshay Kumar's 'Raksha Bandhan'. Not much has been revealed about the plot, but we do know Kumar’s ‘Raksha Bandhan’ is a comedy-drama that will also star actress Bhumi Pednekar and is being directed by Aanand L Rai.