PremiumSalaar postponement: Prabhas film misses golden window?
A release in October, November, December or January next year will set up clashes with other big-ticket films, like Leo, Tiger 3, Dunki, or Prabhas’ Kalki 2898 AD
Last Updated: 05.45 PM, Sep 02, 2023
As soon as news broke that the much-awaited Prabhas-starrer Salaar Ceasefire would not release on September 28, several other film teams realigned their release plans to take up the slot that was just vacated. Ravi Teja’s Tiger Nageshwara Rao, which was in a Dasara box office clash with multiple films, including Ghost, Sapta Sagaradaache Ello Side B, Bhagavanth Kesari and Leo, among others, has advanced its release date to September 28. Also converging in on to take advantage of the long weekend Sept 30-October 2, are films like Parking, Chittha and Iraivan.
Salaar Ceasefire: Will Prabhas’ film be a 2023 release after all or move to 2024?
While Hombale Films is yet to officially confirm the development, the fact that the US distributors have begun issuing refunds and that several reputed trade experts have tweeted about the postponement is proof enough that Salaar Ceasefire will not be in theatres on September 28. Ticket aggregator BookMyShow has also listed Salaar Ceasefire as a November release now, what with a Diwali release being rumoured to be most likely for the Prabhas film.
In giving up a prime slot on September 28, the makers of Salaar are now faced with the prospect of clashes with other biggies depending on when the film eventually comes to theatres. In October, a Dasara release would make the most sense, but that’s a packed window already. Next up is Diwali in November but Salman Khan’s Tiger 3 has already booked that date, while Shah Rukh Khan has taken the Christmas weekend. Salaar is unlikely to clash with either Salman or Shah Rukh is the general assumption, as the makers would want to get a share of the Hindi market too. A Sankranti release in January 2024 is an option, but one that is unlikely to happen as Prabhas’ Kalki 2898A D is fixed for the festival. If Salaar does opt for a January 2024 release after all, it will be Kalki 2898 AD that will likely have to look for a new date. Right now, everything’s up in the air and until Hombale Films comes back with an update, all that remains is a bunch of speculative dates.
The delay in Salaar’s release is being attributed to issues in the ongoing post-production work, more specifically, the VFX graphics. The makers apparently did not want to risk last minute glitches and want to have a fully-finished flawless product in hand.