Mumbai: Superstar Aamir Khan’s “Laal Singh Chaddha” has been pushed to February 2022 from its 2021 Christmas release date and its December spot will now see the opening of actor Ranveer Singh’s much-anticipated cricket drama “83”.
Khan’s “Laal Singh Chaddha”, an official remake of Tom Hanks’ 1994 feature “Forrest Gump”, was scheduled to be released on Christmas 2021 but was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Advait Chandan-directd movie will now be released on Valentine’s Day 2022, the makers announced on Sunday.
Backed by Viacom18 Motion Pictures and Aamir Khan Productions, “Laal Singh Chaddha” also stars Kareena Kapoor Khan, Mona Singh and Naga Chaitanya.
Aamir Khan Productions shared the announcement on their official Instagram page.
“Due to delays faced as a result of the pandemic, we will be unable to release our film, ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’, this Christmas. We will now be releasing ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ on Valentine’s Day 2022,” the statement read.
The development comes a day after the Maharashtra government allowed reopening of cinema halls from October 22.
“We welcome the decision of the administration to allow cinemas to re-open from 22nd Oct,” the makers said in the statement.
Cricket drama “83”, directed by filmmaker Kabir Khan, is now scheduled to release theatrically in December.
The film chronicles Indian cricket team’s first World Cup win under the captaincy of Kapil Dev in 1983, when they defeated West Indies in the final.
“It’s time. ’83’ in cinemas this Christmas. Releasing in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam,” Singh, who plays Dev in the film, tweeted.
The big-budget, multi-starrer movie was one of the first projects which was pushed — from its original April 2020 release — due to COVID-19 outbreak.
The makers had announced a fresh date of June 4, 2021, which was again pushed due to the second wave of the pandemic.
It also stars Hardy Sandhu, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Jiva, Saqib Saleem, Pankaj Tripathi and Deepika Padukone.
The film is produced by Khan, Madhu Mantena, Vishnu Induri and presented by Reliance Entertainment.