Covid impact: Siddharth Mahesh pushes release of his film Garuda ahead

The actor had announced January 21 as the date and was counting down to it with a promotional spree and music launch, but the spike in Covid cases in Karnataka, and subsequent restrictions on theatres have forced him to ditch his plan.

Siddharth Mahesh and Kitty in a still from the film

Garuda is Kannada actor Siddharth Mahesh’s second film only after his debut Sipayi. The film has been ready for a while and was gearing up for release when the pandemic struck. In the time since, Siddharth has been trying to find a good window to bring it theatres, including early last year, but then the devastating second wave of the pandemic struck. It was only in October that theatres were allowed to function at full capacity and since then, there have been a barrage of releases, as filmmakers scrambled to get their long-pending projects in movie halls.

Siddharth had finally zeroed in on January 21 as the date for his film, as the first two weeks of the year were blocked by RRR and a bevy of Tamil-Telugu Sankranti releases. However, the sudden spike in Covid cases across the country has forced several states, including Karnataka to impose restrictions on the movement of people, public events, etc. While some have gone ahead and shut theatres and education institutions too, following which RRR and other big films postponed their release plans, back home, the government has allowed 50% occupancy.

Theatres at 50% occupancy was never a game-plan that filmmakers liked, which is why many held on to their films until it was back to 100%. Right now, the possibility of it going back to 100% will depend on how the pandemic plays out in Karnataka, which has thrown the release plans of films like Garuda up in the air. Speaking to us, Siddharth said that he and his team had decided to postpone the film’s release and that they were not in a position to announce a new date. It’s a wait and watch scenario for them now.

Garuda stars Siddharth along with Srinagara Kitty, Ashika Ranganath, Aindrita Ray and Kamna Jethmalani and has music by Raghu Dixit.

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