Pawan Kalyan refuses to budge, confirms Bheemla Nayak will hit screens on Sankranthi

While RRR is set to open in cinemas on January 7, Bheemla Nayak will release on January 12 and Radhe Shayam, starring Prabhas, will hit screens on January 14. Earlier Mahesh Babu's Sarkaru Vaari Paata was also announced as a Sankranthi release. However, the release date was later moved to April 1.

The makers of Telugu superstar Pawan Kalyan’s upcoming film Bheemla Nayak on Tuesday confirmed that the film will release in theatres on January 12, coinciding with the celebration of Sankranthi, the biggest festival in the Telugu states.

And with the latest announcement, the stage is set for one of the biggest clashes at the box office in the Telugu states. The theatres, distributors and exhibitors are going to have a tough time allocating screens for three major titles: RRR, Bheemla Nayak and Radhe Shayam.

The decision to release director SS Rajamouli’s upcoming film RRR around the time of the Sankranthi festival has complicated things for other filmmakers, who had already locked the festival for their new movies.

While RRR is set to open in cinemas on January 7, Bheemla Nayak will release on January 12 and Radhe Shayam, starring Prabhas, will hit screens on January 14. Earlier Mahesh Babu’s Sarkaru Vaari Paata was also announced as a Sankranthi release. However, the release date was later moved to April 1.

RRR is made at a budget of Rs 400 crore. Besides Jr NTR and Ram Charan, the film also stars Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt, Olivia Morris, Samuthirakani, Alison Doody, Ray Stevenson and Shriya Saran.

Considering SS Rajamouli’s popularity across the country, releasing other films in the same week comes with considerable risk. It is why director Sanjay Leela Bhansali postponed the release of his latest movie Gangubai Kathiawadi. Starring Alia Bhatt in the lead, the film was supposed to hit screens on January 6. And now it will release on February 18.

“The decision by Mr. @JayantilalGada and Mr. #SanjayLeelaBhansali to move the release date is well appreciated. Our heartfelt wishes to #GangubaiKathiawadi..:) (sic),” Rajamouli tweeted appreciating the makers of Gangubai Kathiawadi.

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In the Telugu states, it is a different story. It was believed that the makers of one of the films would develop cold feet and change the release date to avoid the clash, which could undercut each other’s earning potential at the box office. However, with less than two months until the big festival day, none of them seems to be ready to back off from the fight for the eyeballs.

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