Akshay Kumar's Sooryavanshi eyeing January to March 2021 release; no change in Ranveer Singh's 83 Christmas opening

Superstar Akshay Kumar starrer action-drama Sooryavanshi is eyeing a theatrical release window between January and March 2021, after being pushed from its planned Diwali opening, Reliance Entertainment Group CEO Shibasish Sarkar said on 12 October.

The studio had announced in June that the Rohit Shetty directorial will hit the theatres on Diwali, while their another release 83, the sports drama fronted by Ranveer Singh, will arrive on Christmas.

"We will release Sooryavanshi on a future date, which we haven't yet decided. Akshay, Rohit, and Reliance will decide together on the new release date ideally between January to March," Sarkar told PTI.

Sarkar said releasing Sooryavanshi on such short notice, after the Centre approved reopening of cinema halls from 15 October, was not possible. Hence, the team decided to defer the film, he added.

"Earlier we had made announcements for the release of Sooryavanshi on Diwali and 83 on Christmas. Now releasing a film in Diwali is not practical as some states still haven't announced opening up theatres and you can't release Sooryavanshi with less than one month promotion."

"For 83, as of now it's slated for a Christmas release. (There is) No change in that process," he said.

Sooryavanshi was originally scheduled to release on 24 March and the Kabir Khan-directed 83 was set to hit the cinema houses on 10 April.

But both the movies were indefinitely postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, which led to the shutdown of theatres across the country and in other parts of the world.

Sooryavanshi is the fourth film in Shetty's cop universe after Ajay Devgn's Singham, Singham Returns, and Simmba, starring Singh.

The film is presented by Reliance Entertainment and produced by Rohit Shetty Picturez in association with Dharma Productions and Cape of Good Films.

83, which chronicles India's first cricket 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.

It is produced by Khan, Vishnu Vardhan Induri, Madhu Mantena, Padukone, and Sajid Nadiadwala and presented by Reliance Entertainment.