Sooryavanshi, ‘83 lock dates for theatrical release

With many films taking the digital route, this sure comes as relief for theatre owners

Akshay Kumar’s much-awaited cop drama Sooryavan

shi will hit the theatres on Diwali, while Ranveer Singh-starrer ’83 will release on Christmas this year, Reliance Entertainment has announced.

Sooryavanshi, directed by Rohit Shetty, was originally scheduled to release on March 24 and Kabir Khanhelmed ’83 was set to hit the theatres on April 10.

But both the movies were indefinitely postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, which led to theatres shutdown across the country and in other parts of the world. “We have decided to release Sooryavanshi during Diwali and ’83 will come out during Christmas this year. We are committed to release these two films in theatres first. As and when the government and exhibitors open cinema halls and the environment is safe and secure for audience to come, these things will have to happen,” Shibasish Sarkar, Group CEO Reliance Entertainment, said.

“We are optimistic people and we have another five to six months to go from now and hopefully situation will be normal (by then). That’s the expectation. Usually, these films are slated for a date when festival is around and we thought it will be prudent to work towards that date,”

he added. Sooryavanshi is the third film in Shetty's cop universe after Ajay Devgn’s Singham and Ranveer-starrer Simmba.

’83, which chronicles India's first World Cup win under the captaincy of Kapil Dev in 1983, also stars Hardy Sandhu, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Jiva, Saqib Saleem, Pankaj Tripathi and Deepika Padukone.

Sooryavanshi and ’83 are the first two big films two have officially announce the theatrical release date as the country recovers from the pandemic, which has led to many star-studded projects opting for a direct-to-digital release.