Will Deepika-Ranveer-Shahid's 'Padmavati' release this year? Confusion persists
The film had first hit a roadblock after violence erupted on the set of the movie in Rajasthan
Sanjay Leela Bhansali's movie "Padmavati" seems to be in another round of confusion.
The period drama starring Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh in lead roles initially got in the middle of chaos after violence broke out at the site of shooting in Rajasthan.
After months of speculation whether the movie will release on its initial release date in October, DNA reports that the movie has been postponed until February 2018.
As reported by DNA, a source close to the producer said, "SLB (Sanjay Leela Bhansali) had an October 20 deadline, which is impossible to meet now. The workers’ strike took away a few important days. Meanwhile, two of the principal actors — Deepika and Shahid — also had free dates, so they took off on vacations. A lot of the shoot is still left. The major chunk may have been shot, but some big action sequences are still left. Ranveer’s portions as the young Alauddin Khilji, too, remain to be shot.”
The shooting of the film had first gotten delayed due to protests in Rajasthan. After that, the lead actors haven't been able to find free dates as they are on a vacation.
The source added, "The makers are planning to release it in February 2018. Apart from Anushka Sharma’s Pari (February 9, 2018), no other big film is slotted for February.”
However, there are contradictory reports from other media houses.
According to Quint,Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, the co-producers of Sanjay Leela Bhansali are going ahead with the release plan. Not only are they releasing on November 17 but are also planning to release it on more screens than Baahubali.
As reported by Quint, the marketing plans for the movie are huge. The report says: “It will open on approximately 8,000 screens in India alone. That is 500 more screens thanBaahubali:The Conclusion. That makesPadmavatithe most widely circulated Hindi film ever. It will also be screened abroad on a scale never seen before.”
Not just that, but the producers and director Sanjay Leela Bhansali also plan a dubbed English-language version of the film for selected European and American outlets.
According to Quint,“Deepika Padukone will promote Padmavati with Shahid Kapoor who plays her husband while Ranveer Singh will be seen at all promotional events with Aditi Rao Hydari who plays his wife in Padmavati. In this way, the two couples will be suitably strategised in the public mind before the release."
Ajit Andhare the COO of Viacom 18 speaking to Quint said “not true" to all rumours of postponing the movie.
It still waits to be seen whether the movie will hit theatres this year or are the rumourstrue.
