Monitoring situation on daily basis; Reliance Entertainment on postponing ‘83’ and ‘Sooryavanshi’ due to coronavirus scare

The coronavirus outbreak has been declared as a Public Health Emergency by the World Health Organisation and with at least 52 confirmed cases in India, the business of Bollywood films is expected to take a hit in the coming days as well.

Two big-budget films which are lined up for release in the next one month – Rohit Shetty’s ‘Sooryavanshi’ and Kabir Khan’s ‘83’ might be pushed because of the coronavirus scare.

Shibashish Sarkar, Group CEO of Reliance Entertainment, told an online news portal that as of now, ‘Sooryavanshi’ and ‘83’ will hit the screens on the scheduled dates. However, if the situation does not get any better, their release might be delayed.

He said, “No decision taken yet. We are talking daily but as of now, things stand as it is – that is the films will release on their original dates. If at all we need to look at a change, we will do so closer to the delivery,” Sarkar told the website.

He added that the producers were “not in denial mode” and said, “Definitely we are thinking about it, the entire world is – be it any event, party or any gathering, everyone is thinking twice about organising it.”

‘Sooryavanshi’, which stars Akshay Kumar as the chief of the Anti-Terror squad, is scheduled to open in theatres on March 24. The action drama also features Katrina Kaif, Ajay Devgn and Ranveer Singh in pivotal roles.

‘83’, starring Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Saqib Saleem, among others, is slated for an April 10 release.