The Indian film industry is one of the sufferers of the Covid-19 pandemic. The past few days have seen a couple of announcements of release dates of movies being postponed. The South Indian film industry is gearing up with an incredible slate of films set to hit theatres in 2022. With Covid-19 restrictions lessened in the country for some time, producers of several highly anticipated films were targeting early 2022 for their releases in order to boost sales and generate good business.
However, many such plans have been ruined due to the third wave of the pandemic. Here is a list of five South-Indian movies that got postponed this year due to the rising cases of Covid-19.
‘Vikrant Rona’
‘Vikrant Rona’, directed by filmmaker Anup Bhandari, is described as a multilingual adventure-action drama. actors Sudeep, Nirup Bhandari, and Neetha Ashok star as leads in the movie. Jacqueline Fernandez, a Bollywood actress, has also been cast in a cameo role. Manjunath Gowda and Alankar Pandian co-produce the film, which is presented by Zee Studio. The film is set to release in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Hindi languages. The film was initially set to release in theatres on February 24. However, the release date has been postponed as Covid-19 cases continue to rise across the country.
'Acharya’
‘Acharya’, starring actors Chiranjeevi and Ram Charan, was set to hit theatres on February 4. The makers announced that the film's release had been postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Once the situation has stabilised, a new release date will be announced. The film is directed by Koratala Siva and stars Kajal Aggarwal and Pooja Hegde in lead roles. Chiranjeevi and Ram Charan will play Naxalites in the upcoming film. Matinee Entertainment and Konidela Production Company are producing the film together. The supporting cast includes Sonu Sood, Jisshu Sengupta, Saurav Lokesh, Kishore, Posani Krishna Murali, Tanikella Bharani, and Sangeetha.
‘Valimai’
‘Valimai’ is a forthcoming Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by H. Vinoth and produced by Boney Kapoor under Bayview Projects LLP with Zee Studios as co-producer and distributor. Kartikeya Gummakonda, Huma Qureshi, and Ajith Kumar star in the film. It follows Kumar, a cop who is tasked with tracking down a gang of violent bikers after they commit heinous crimes. The movie has been pushed back indefinitely. The makers have decided not to release the film for Pongal 2022 as originally planned due to an increase in COVID-19 infections and complications caused by the Omicron variant. The news was conveyed to the audience through a tweet by Kapoor on January 6.
‘Major’
Sony Pictures India, G. Mahesh Babu Entertainment, and A+S Movies are producing ‘Major’, an upcoming Indian biographical action film directed by Sashi Kiran Tikka. It is based on the life of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, who died in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. The movie is shot simultaneously in Telugu and Hindi and later dubbed into Malayalam. The movie’s release date was set for February 11th this year. However, due to the restrictions imposed by the Omicron variant and the increasing number of cases, the film's team announced that the film would be pushed back to a later date.
‘Radhe Shyam’
‘Radhe Shyam’ is an upcoming Indian period romantic drama film starring Prabhas and Pooja Hegde, written and directed by Radha Krishna Kumar. It is shot in Telugu and Hindi at the same time. UV Creations, Gopi Krishna Movies, and T-Series are the producers of the film. The film was supposed to be released on January 14, Sankranthi, but the team decided to postpone it due to the ongoing covid situation. The film, in the beginning, was set to release on July 30, 2021.
‘RRR’
‘RRR’ is a Telugu-language period action-drama film directed by SS Rajamouli and produced by DVV Entertainments' D. V. V. Danayya. Jr. NTR, Ram Charan, Ajay Devgan, Alia Bhatt, and Olivia Morris star in the film, which also features Samuthirakani, Alison Doody, Ray Stevenson, and Shriya Saran. It is a fictional story about Alluri Sitarama Raju (Charan) and Komaram Bheem (NTR), two Indian revolutionaries who fought against the British Raj and the Nizam of Hyderabad, respectively. After being postponed in 2020, the film was originally scheduled to hit theatres in January 2021. The makers finally had announced the film's release date for January 7, after a series of changes in the release date. However, with rising cases of Omicron, the film’s release has been postponed yet again.
