Bollywood producers rush to lock theatrical release dates

With the Maharashtra government granting reopening permits to cinemas last weekend, Bollywood producers are fast lining up releases to make up for lost time. Apart from Akshay Kumar’s Sooryavanshi that has announced a Diwali release, studios are also looking at viable dates this and next year. John Abraham’s Satyameva Jayate 2 has been scheduled for 26 November and Ayushmann Khurrana’s Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, for 10 December.

Shahid Kapoor’s sports drama Jersey will release on 31 December, a week after Christmas which has been locked by another sports drama ’83. The Ranveer Singh-starrer will clash with Telugu star Allu Arjun’s multilingual action flick Pushpa: The Rise- Part One. Meanwhile, Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chadha that was earlier slated for Christmas, has been pushed to February.

As far as next year goes, Sajid Nadiadwala’s Akshay Kumar-starrer Bachchan Pandey has been slated for 4 March 2022, and Tiger Shroff’s Heropanti 2 for 6 May. Nadiadwala’s romantic film Tadap had already announced an arrival for 3 December this year.

Horror comedy Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 starring Kartik Aaryan, Kiara Advani and Tabu has been scheduled for 25 March 2022, Ajay Devgn directed Mayday featuring him along with Amitabh Bachchan on 29 April while Akshay Kumar-starrer Raksha Bandhan and Prabhas’ Adipurush will clash for the Independence Day weekend on 11 August. Period drama KGF: Chapter 2 has stuck to its 14 April date announced earlier, while Kumar has confirmed Diwali 2022 for Ram Setu, the title that is being co-produced by Amazon Prime.

Over the weekend, Yash Raj Films announced that its comedy Bunty Aur Babli 2 will release on 19 November. The studio’s big-budget period drama Prithviraj starring Akshay Kumar has been slated for 21 January 2022, family entertainer Jayeshbhai Jordaar starring Ranveer Singh for 25 February and Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Shamshera for 18 March. Live Mint