Salaar release date: Yuva Rajkumar’s launchpad to be pushed ahead for Prabhas’ film?

In the past, Hombale Films has rearranged release dates of its own slate of movies, like it did with KGF: Chapter 2 and Salaar

Will Salaar take up December 22 after all?

When Hombale Films first announced Salaar and the likely date that the Prabhas-led gangster flick would be in theatres, it was meant to be an April 14, 2022 release. The delay in the production of KGF: Chapter 2, though, changed those plans. Principal photography of The Yash-starrer was completed by the end of 2020 and even though post-production was also wound up by the middle of 2021, the film was brought to theatres only in April last year, pushing Salaar ahead in the process. What Hombale Films did was to dethrone one of its own projects, which was anyway still in production stage at the time, instead of figuring out a whole new date plan for KGF-2.

In August 2022 then, the banner announced that Salaar would be in theatres on September 28, 2023 an achievable timeframe, one thought, given that it was a year away and that the film had been in production since January 2021. Prabhas’ schedule conflicts with his film Saaho and a subsequent holiday injury caused production delays, and yet by December 2022, it was reported to be 85% complete, with sources later claiming that it was wrapped up in May 2023. Director Prashant Neel was believed to be holed up at music director Ravi Basrur’s studio to work on the post-production to ensure that no footage/images from the film would be leaked. Everything seemed on course for the film’s September 28 release when reports began emerging that Prashant was not happy with the output of some of the VFX shots and that the studio responsible for the graphic work had also delayed delivery of crucial sequences. This, in turn, upset the apple cart for Salaar.

Read: Salaar on OTT: Leading streamer, television network bag digital, satellite deals for a fancy price?

Rumours began doing the rounds that the film was being postponed, which was confirmed by Hombale Films almost two weeks later earlier today. The banner has, however, not shed light on a possible alternate date for Salaar saying only that it will be announced in due course of time. In losing out on September 28, the film is said to have missed a golden window, what with all the upcoming festival slots taken up by major releases from other languages. While Dasara has Vijay’s Leo, Nandamuri Balakrishna’s Bhagavanth Kesari, Deepavali has Salman Khan’s Tiger 3, while Shah Rukh Khan is believed to be bringing his Rajkumar Hirani film Dunki for Christmas.

Salaar: Director Prashant Neel seeks divine blessings for film’s success

December, though, is also when Hombale Films was looking at releasing Yuva, the launchpad of Raghavendra Rajkumar’s younger son Yuva Rajkumar, who is being positioned as the successor to the late Power Star Puneeth Rajkumar in the Kannada film industry. Yuva is supposed to be in theatres on December 22, but the Santhosh Ananddram directorial is still in production. Could it be that Hombale Films will move Yuva ahead to March 2024, as a treat for fans on the occasion of the late actor’s birth anniversary? There are rumours that Salaar could target Sankranti in early January. All this, however, is subject to when Prashant Neel feels absolutely confident that his film is in the exact shape he wants it to be when he presents it to audiences. Reports, meanwhile, suggest that Hombale Films is likely to make an official announcement about Salaar’s renewed release date in a week’s time. Let’s wait and watch!

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