Alia Bhatt starrer Gangubai Kathiawadi's Netflix release delayed?

With cheerful throngs at the turnstiles once again, the tense relationship between cinemas and the OTT platform is primed for yet another shift. While the time gap between a film's theatrical and OTT releases has long been a source of discontent between the two parties, it has now grown, with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Gangubai Kathiawadi, starring Alia Bhatt, seeing enormous box office gains with each passing day.

As per reports in Bollywood Hungama, Netflix has reportedly been "asked" to postpone their streaming plans for Gangubai Kathiawadi by at least a month, to allow the film to mature in theatres. From the last week of April, Gangubai Kathiawadi will be available on Netflix.

Meanwhile, according to Box Office India, on its second Saturday, Gangubai Kathiawadi did exceptionally well, grossing Rs 7.75 crore nett, bringing its total to nearly Rs 79 crore nett. On Saturday, the film had tremendous growth across the board, and it has a good possibility of breaking into double digits on Sunday, putting it on track to finish the second week with a total of Rs 100 crore nett.

The film's Saturday performance positions it for a possible double-digit figure on the second Saturday. The growth will have to be very strong, but it is possible because the picture is doing well in Gujarat/Saurashtra and CPCI, both of which had a strong Sunday performance. On Sunday, the film will cross the Rs 10 crore nett milestone in Mumbai.

The film was directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and it marked his first outing with Bhatt on the big screen. Gangubai Kathiawadi also features Ajay Devgn in an extended cameo appearance alongside Seema Pahwa, Shantanu Maheshwari, Vijay Raaz, and Indira Tiwari.

The film had its premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival, which was attended by Bhatt and Bhansali in Germany.