S. S. Rajamouli has adopted one of the most innovative strategies to address release date issues for his hotly anticipated ‘RRR‘. In a surprise announcement on social media, DVV Entertainment, producers of RRR, revealed the release date for RRR……not one, but two release dates! The makers announced that they’ll release RRR in theatres on the auspicious Holi weekend, that is March 18. However, the release will be subject to theatres in the entire country operating at ‘FULL’ capacity. It’s either all or nothing for Rajamouli’s magnum opus.
If not March, then RRR will release on April 28, just before the lucrative Eid festival. Both dates, Holi and Eid, are carefully and thoughtfully chosen dates by the RRR team. Both are traditionally days when people are in a festive mood, and open to spending the cheery festival weekend watching a good movie at the theatres.
With this, S. S. Rajamouli and team have effectively kept the RRR release date open-ended, to be decided as per the Covid restrictions in the country.
But there’s another worrying aspect to RRR’s open-ended strategy. Worrying for others, that is. By choosing two dates for the release of RRR, the makers have put several highly anticipated movies in a spot. Akshay Kumar has picked Holi day March 18 to release his buzzy ‘Bachchan Pandey’ in theatres. April 29 is the chosen release date for Ajay Devgn’s ‘Runway 34’ and Tiger Shroff’s ‘Heropanti 2′. All three films’ stakeholders are likely to get jittery and apprehensive due to the ambiguity of RRR’s release date. The presence of two heavyweight actors, Ram Charan and Jr NTR, has skewed things in RRR’s favour. The two actors together on screen means the film is a surefire hit if released on the auspicious festive days. To postpone or not to postpone – that will be the question topmost in the minds of the think-tanks of the three films.
With a colossal film such as RRR releasing on either of the two dates, it will be a tall order for the other films to make a sizeable-enough dent at the box-office. It is obvious that other films will have to do a rethink.
S. S Rajamouli picking April 28 as a tentative release date for RRR also puts him directly at loggerheads with Ajay Devgn, who’s also one of his RRR actors. Earlier too, Rajamouli had earned the wrath of the makers of another of Ajay Devgn’s films. Rajamouli had picked Dussehra 2021 as the initial release date for RRR, in a direct clash with Ajay Devgn’s ‘Maidaan’. He wasn’t willing to budge even when Maidaan producer Boney Kapoor called him out for his brazen act in pitting RRR against Maidaan. This time, Ajay Devgn is not only the star of Runway 34, but also its producer. RRR clashing with Runway 34 at the box office is a double whammy for Ajay Devgn. It’s obvious that Ajay Devgn will not be too happy with S S Rajamouli’s decision regarding RRR release date.
But yes, nothing is cast in stone yet. Let’s wait and watch on which side the coin falls