Wait is over! Wear your 'Bell Bottom' on July 27
Akshay Kumar's espionage period drama Bell Bottom is headed for a theatrical release, and makers just announced its release date. The high voltage thriller will be hitting the big screens worldwide on July 27, lead star Akshay Kumar announced today. "Couldn't be happier to finally announce the release of our film," wrote the Khiladi. To note, the film suffered multiple postponements in the past.
Kumar's R&AW agent avatar's arrival was announced in style!
Sharing an interactive clip on social media, the actor said, "I know you have patiently waited for #Bellbottom!" In the 13-second-long video, Kumar, in his Bell Bottom avatar, can be seen walking in stride through what appears to be a hangar. Behind him, a calendar scrolls past, stopping at July 27. Stylish! The Ranjit M Tewari-directorial has been produced by Vashu and Jackky Bhagnani.
This is the official announcement of the release date
Movie lovers, distributors and exhibitors welcomed the move
The surge of COVID-19 second wave had effectively halted the theatrical business in the country. While producers went for OTT releases to recover costs, distributors and exhibitors suffered in the process. So naturally, Bell Bottom's release would bring them relief. In this light, a film exhibitor thanked Kumar and wrote, "I guess others will follow suit and we can prepare an opening plan."
'Bhoot Police' and 'Jagame Thandhiram' have walked the digital road
The trend of releasing big-budget films on OTT platforms began with Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai that hit ZEE5 in May. This was followed by several other major productions, like Bhoot Police, which was sold to Disney+ Hotstar, and Dhanush's Jagame Thandhiram went to Netflix.
Improving COVID-19 condition must have been a boon
Now, Bell Bottom makers are eyeing a release date just a month away. So this probably means that producers are hoping that cinema halls will reopen by then. Hence, India recording its lowest single-day COVID-19 spike in 74 days must come as good news. Also, the Delhi government has been relaxing guidelines in an incremental manner. It is expected other states will follow suit.
Earlier reports had hinted at direct-to-digital release for 'Bell Bottom'
Coming back to Bell Bottom, there were reports about the thriller getting released on Hotstar and Amazon Prime earlier. Most recently, it was said that Prime had won the rights and will be premiering the movie on August 13. But, Bhagnani had refuted such claims time and again. The movie, set in the 1980s, also stars Huma Qureshi, Vaani Kapoor, and Lara Dutta.
In May, Jackky was booked for rape, molestation
Separately, Jackky was recently named in an FIR, along with several high-profile Bollywood men, on rape and molestation allegations. No arrests have been made yet, but a senior cop said, "We'll definitely question the accused soon." Ajit Thakur, one of the accused, has denied allegations.
