Chehre to Bunty Aur Babli 2, 5 films postponed due to COVID 19 spike

With the reopening of theatres, Bollywood box office saw a dim silver lining. The filmmakers announced the release dates of their anticipated projects and the filmy calendar was packed for a few weeks with big budget films lined up for a theatrical release. However, with the rising number of Covid cases in the country, multiple films are now being postponed. 

Amitabh Bachchan-Emraan Hashmi starrer "Chehre" is the most recent one to be stalled by its makers. The film which was scheduled to release on April 9 has been delayed and no new date has been announced as of yet. The Rani Mukerji-Saif Ali Khan starrer "Bunty Aur Babli 2" is also eyeing a new release date. It was slated to hit the theaters on April 23.

Related: Amitabh Bachchan-Emraan Hashmi starrer Chehre postponed owing to rising Covid cases

Hindi version of Haathi Mere Saathi starring Rana Daggubati-starrer has also been pushed. However, its Telugu version "Aranya" and Tamil version "Kaadan" opened on the designated date. Ram Gopal Varma's "D Company" and the Punjabi biggie "Puaada", starring Ammy Virk and Sonam Bajwa are among other titles to have been postponed.

Here're 5 such projects which have been postponed due to a surge in COVID 19 cases:

Chehre
Directed by Rumy Jafry, "Chehre" was scheduled to release on April 9. In a statement, film's producer Anand Pandit said, "Considering the situation and safety of our audiences and fans which is of utmost importance to us, we have decided to postpone our film Chehre. The team has taken immense efforts to make it a great cinematic experience and we are looking forward to our audiences coming to the theatres safely." The psychological thriller stars actors Amitabh Bachchan, Emraan Hashmi and Rhea Chakraborty.

Haathi Mere Saathi
The Rana Daggubati starrer was slated to hit screens on March 26. However, it has been postponed due to the rising Covid cases, particularly in Mumbai. However, the Tamil and Telugu versions, "Kaadan" and "Aranya", have released as per schedule. A statement from the film's production house Eros International read: "Dear viewers, It pains us to share this news but given the Covid-19 situation in the Hindi markets, the team of Haathi Mere Saathi has decided to hold on to the release of the film. We shall keep you posted on further developments. However, we will be releasing Aranya and Kaadan in the South markets on the 26th of March."

Bunty Aur Babli 2
Rani Mukerji, Saif Ali Khan, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Sharvari Wagh's Bunty Aur Babli 2 is also one of the delayed titles. The film has been postponed indefinitely and a new release date for the film is yet to be announced. The film is a follow-up to the 2005 hit "Bunty Aur Babli". It was expected to hit screens on April 23. Informing about the same, trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted on Thursday: "#BreakingNews: #BuntyAurBabli2 - which was scheduled to release in *cinemas* on 23 April 2021 - has been postponed... #YRF will announce the new release date later. #SaifAliKhan, #RaniMukerji, #SiddhantChaturvedi #Sharvari."

Puaada
The release of Ammy Virk and Sonam Bajwa-starrer Punjabi rom-com "Puaada" was initially set to release in the summer of June 2020, but the makers had to push the release date owing to the pandemic that forced theatres to shut down since March last year. Following this, two release dates were announced -- March 11 and April 2, 2021. With the film postponed again, audiences will have to wait for a fresh release date to be announced. A statement from the makers read, "Due to the rising cases of Covid-19 and new guidelines for cinemas with weekend and night closures of theatres, we have decided to postpone our movie Puaada until further notice."

D Company
Ram Gopal Varma's new gangster drama has also been pushed for release.  The filmmaker had tweeted earlier, informing his fans about the update. "Due to the sudden severe Covid rise in many parts of the country and also amid continuous news of new lockdowns, we at SPARK decided to postpone the release of D COMPANY ..A new date will be announced ASAP #DCompany @SparkSagar1," RGV wrote. 

--with IANS inputs