Akshay Kumar's Prithviraj drops out of January race due to rising Covid-19 cases

Only two months ago Akshay Kumar ’s Sooryavanshi brought the box office back to life. However, only two months later the Indian film industry is once again looking at an uncertain future due to raising number of Covid-19 cases in the country. With an imminent third wave of the pandemic, filmmakers are once again pushing their upcoming films for a safer time as cinemas in a few key territories have already been shut down or are facing restrictions.

In the light of such events, Akshay’s next Prithviraj has become the latest film to have been pushed once again according to a Bollywood Hungama report. The historical period drama, which was to release on 21 January and is backed by Yash Raj Films , will now have to once again survey the 2022 calendar for a new release date as many big releases have already blocked the big holidays. The movie will mark the debut of Miss World 2017, Manushi Chillar.

Currently, among the ready to release films of YRF, Prithviraj is the biggest title and certainly releasing it amidst the Omicron scare will be a big gamble. Other YRF projects in the pipeline for this year include Jayeshbhai Joordaar and Shamshera.

Prior to Prithviraj, big budget films like RRR and Jersey have also backed away last minute ahead of their respective release dates as Covid-19 cases rise significantly. The movies have laid to waste huge chunks of marketing budgets for promotions due to postponement but that is nothing compared to the losses these big projects will endure if lockdowns are imposed again.

There were also speculations regarding Prabhas ’ Sankranti release Radhe Shyam getting pushed but the makers for now has put all rumours to rest and stated that they are proceeding as planned.

With RRR, Prithivraj and Jersey out of the January race films like Attack, Radhe Shyam, Gehraiyaan and Kashmir Files remain to release in cinemas.