There has been a huge rise again in the number of COVID-19 cases across India, with the Omicron variant affecting thousands of people. Amidst this surge which many are calling as the third wave and restrictions being imposed in different parts of the country, the theatrical releases of many films have been pushed.
It began with Shahid Kapoor and Mrunal Thakur starrer Jersey, which was scheduled to hit theatres on December 31. The makers decided to not release the movie at the last minute. This was followed by SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus RRR featuring Jr NTR, Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn and Alia Bhatt. A couple of days back, Akshay Kumar and Manushi Chhillar’s Prithviraj was postponed and just yesterday the makers of Radhe Shyam, starring Prabhas and Pooja Hegde, also announced the postponement in the release of their film.
The latest buzz is that John Abraham and Rakul Preet Singh starrer Attack, which was scheduled to release on January 28, has also been pushed.
A source reveals, “While the official announcement is yet to be made, the producers, including John Abraham, have had an internal talk and have decided that postponing the film is going to to be the best decision in the current situation. There is no way that they can think of releasing the film on their scheduled date considering the current surge in Covid 19 case.”
The source further adds that the decision is also because of the extreme rise in the number of cases in Mumbai. “Mumbai contributes to around 30-40 percent of the box-office revenue. With the city clocking in more than 15000 cases on Wednesday, the number is just going to increase as the peak is yet to come according to many health experts. In such a scenario, the government will come up with fresh curbs and strict restrictions and it is expected that theatres might be shut again. The makers of Attack wouldn’t want to suffer any further loss as they have held on to the film long enough.”
It is also rumoured that the industry insiders are suggesting that the film might be headed for an OTT release. Pay Per View (PPV) is another option that is also being considered. “It is too early to take that decision. As of now, there’s no official word from the producers on their next course of action. Also John is really keen on releasing the film in theatres considering they have shot for some never seen before high octane action sequences. It is doubtful that the film will go straight to OTT,” concludes the source.
