Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ moved to February

Gangubai Kathiawadi is a biographical drama that was earlier set for release in early January 2022. It is now slotted for release on 18 February 2022.

1 min read . Updated: 16 Nov 2021, 10:41 AM IST Lata Jha

The Alia Bhatt-starrer will no longer clash with RRR, the multilingual period drama directed by Baahubali film-maker S.S. Rajamouli

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NEW DELHI : Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s biographical drama Gangubai Kathiawadi has moved its theatrical release date from early January to 18 February 2022. The Alia Bhatt-starrer will no longer clash with RRR, the multilingual period drama directed by Baahubali film-maker S.S. Rajamouli, that also stars Bhatt along with Jr. NTR, Ram Charan and Ajay Devgn.

As theatres reopen across the country and producers line up big releases, several titles are vying for showcasing with Salman Khan’s production Antim and John Abraham-starrer Satyameva Jayate 2 making for the first box office clash, later this month.

Trade experts said a clutch of big-budget, star-cast films will help Bollywood fully recover by late 2021 and early 2022 as some sort of consistency in flow of fresh content for theatres will resume later this year.

Diwali releases such as Sooryavanshi and Annaatthe have already set the ball rolling earlier this month. Projects delayed from 2020 plus those greenlit in 2021 will come together to bear real fruit for the industry next year when pent-up demand among audiences will meet supply.

Making for the biggest line-up ever in recent times, the coming months will see big star vehicles including Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Pathan, Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt’s long delayed Brahmastra, Fighter starring Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal with Kabir Singh director Sandeep Reddy, the third instalment of Salman Khan’s Tiger franchise, among others.

However, trade experts said the shutdown of over 1,000 screens during the covid-19 pandemic and many theatres uncertain on when they might be able to restart all their properties, could lead to inadequate showcasing even for big films. A big opening weekend becomes even more important for producers after the pandemic because they know the film will premiere on an OTT platform within days which will eat into theatrical business.

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