Reliance Entertainment and Rohit Shetty Picturez have taken a decision to postpone the release of their Sooryavanshi in view of the Delhi government’s decision to shut down all cinemas from tomorrow (March 13) to March 31. Cinemas in Kerala shut down from 11th March and will remain closed till the month-end. Likewise, the deputy commissioner of Jammu tweeted on 10th that all cinema halls in district Jammu will be closed till March 31, 2020, with immediate effect. There’s also news that cinemas in Haryana have been ordered to remain closed till 31st March.
The producers of Sooryavanshi — Rohit Shetty, Reliance, Karan Johar and Akshay Kumar — had been deliberating on whether they should postpone the release of the film right from the time the coronavirus scare has happened in India. They had been closely monitoring the box-office collections of the latest big release, Baaghi 3, to see the impact of the coronavirus on the box-office. Although the effect of the scare to Baaghi 3 has been minimal so far, the fear factor is only growing with each passing day. However, the diktat from the Delhi government has left the producers of Sooryavanshi with no option but to postpone the release of the Akshay Kumar starrer. Said Rohit Shetty to Information, “It is good that the government is shutting down cinemas. Health comes first. Our movies can wait.” The filmmaker added, “For the present, we cannot even decide on a new release date. Who can say, how long it will take for normalcy to return?”
