PremiumNew Delhi: More than a decade after his last venture Don 2, Farhan Akhtar will return to the director’s chair with a film titled Jee Le Zaraa featuring Priyanka Chopra, Katrina Kaif and Alia Bhatt in the lead. The road trip film will be co-written by Farhan along with sister Zoya and Reema Kagti and co-produced by their companies Excel Entertainment and Tiger Baby Films. It is scheduled for release in 2023.
As movie theatres across the country gradually reopen albeit with limited capacity, the Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam movie industries are fast announcing new projects in signs of returning to work and making films for theatrical exhibition.
Telugu stars like Chiranjeevi, Ravi Teja, Mahesh Babu and Jr. NTR have all announced new projects while Tamil stars Vijay and Dhanush have committed to upcoming films, Beast and an untitled venture with director Sekhar Kammula, respectively.
In the Hindi film industry, Ajay Devgn has said he will produce the Hindi remake of Telugu hit Naandhi while Kartik Aaryan has signed for a film titled Captain India with Ronnie Screwvala and a musical love story to be produced by Sajid Nadiadwala.
Trade experts said these are signs the industry is looking at theatrical releases seriously, especially in 2022, when improving consumer sentiment and vaccinated audiences will make for good returns for movies that are ready by then.
Presuming people take around three to four months to feel fully safe in visiting theatres even after they open across the country, the film business in India could see a jump of at least 20% in revenue compared to 2019 once things normalize, said trade experts. Audiences are hungry to step out to watch films. The trend has already been seen overseas with action flick Fast & Furious 9 setting the cash registers ringing as it collected around $63 million over its three-day weekend in the US.
Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!!