More Bollywood push-backs: Ranveer, Vicky, Farhan's films get new release dates

From Ranveer Singh's Jayeshbhai Jordaar to Farhan Akhtar's Toofaan and the Vicky Kaushal-starrer Sardar Udham Singh, several high-profile films have rescheduled release dates
Jayeshbhai Jordaar (Photo: IANS)
Jayeshbhai Jordaar (Photo: IANS)

Mumbai, March 13 (IANS): From Ranveer Singh's Jayeshbhai Jordaar to Farhan Akhtar's Toofaan and the Vicky Kaushal-starrer Sardar Udham Singh, several high-profile films have rescheduled their release dates in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.

Jayeshbhai Jordaar is now slated to release on October 2, which was the initial release date of Toofaan. The Farhan Akhtar boxing drama has now been scheduled for September 18.

The decision was conveyed by Yash Raj Films (YRF) and Excel Entertainment, producers of Jayeshbhai Jordaar and Toofaan respectively, on behalf of YRF owner Aditya Chopra and Excel co-owner Ritesh Sidhwani.

"In the interest of both films and to ensure an ideal theatrical release, #AdityaChopra & @ritesh_sid have decided to release their films on different dates. YRF will release #JayeshbhaiJordaar on 2nd October and @excelmovies will release #Toofaan on 18th September 2020," a post read on the official Twitter page of YRF.

Later in the evening, actor Vicky Kaushal took to social media and shared that his upcoming film Sardar Udham Singh has been pushed to January 15, 2021.

The film is based on the story of Udham Singh, who assassinated Michael O' Dwyer, the former lieutenant governor of Punjab in pre-Independence India, to avenge the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar in 1919. Singh was subsequently tried and convicted of murder and hanged in July 1940.

"On March 13th 1940, #SardarUdham singlehandedly assassinated Michael O' Dwyer in London to honour the lives lost at the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. His story deserves justice onscreen. Keeping that in mind, we will now see you in cinemas on 15th January 2021," Vicky wrote.

The decisions comes a day after the Delhi government officially announced the shutdown of all cinema halls in the Capital until March 31 due to the outbreak of coronavirus. Bihar, Orissa, Karnataka, Kerala and Jammu are other centres where cinemas have been shut down, at the time of going to print.

Meanwhile, even as upcoming films are being indefinitely postponed owing to cinema halls being shut down in the wake of coronavirus pandemic, films that are already running are bearing the brunt.

The Tiger Shroff-starrer Baaghi 3 and this week's release Angrezi Medium, which brings back Irrfan, are the hardest hit.

Baaghi 3, which released in India on March 6, was doing brisk business till many states declared an emergency, directing halls to shut down. The film recorded the biggest opening of 2020 so far, raking in INR 17.50 crore on day one.

However, Baaghi 3 is currently witnessing a slump at the box office after cinema halls were shut down in Delhi, Maharashtra, Jammu, Bihar, Orissa, Karnataka and Kerala, at the time of going to press.

While the film is expected to cross the INR 100-crore mark, the trade had expected it to scale at least INR 130 crore. Till Thursday, the film has managed INR 90.67 crore, according to trade analyst Taran Adarsh's tweet.

As per several trade projections, big-ticket films like Baaghi 3 and Rohit Shetty's postponed Sooryavanshi stand to see a 15-20 per cent impact on their collections under these circumstances.

The scene looks more bleak for a smaller film like Angrezi Medium, which opened on Friday. The film is expected to see a higher impact, in the region of 25-30 per cent.

Trade expert Joginder Tuteja said: "Though Baaghi 3 has done well, one can't expect the same from upcoming biggies that release at a wide scale since the coronavirus situation would be looked at far more closely at least in the near future, till the menace settles down."

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