Duniya Vijay’s Landlord to have paid premieres or early-morning shows?

Landlord, the latest directorial venture of Gentleman and Guru Shishyar u maker Jadeshaa K Hampi, starring Duniya Vijay in the lead and Raj B Shetty as antagonist, is theatre bound. The film has been censored and was awarded U/A with only minor variations, in terms of reduction of scenes involving blood spillage. “Landlord’s run-time is around 2 hours 36 minutes, including start and end credits,” says Jadeshaa, who has been promoting the film, while also fine-tuning the end product for its January 23, 2026 theatrical outing.

What is Duniya Vijay's take on paid premieres or EMS?

This being Jadeshaa’s biggest film to date, the question is if he will give audiences a chance to preview it with paid premieres or early morning shows on the release date for fans to celebrate? Turns out, leading man Vijay is not in favour of either. “I’ve never had fan shows for any of my films. It’s always been a routine 9 or 10 am start on the release date. For a 6 am show, they will have to wake up at least by 3-3.30 am to be at the theatre by 5.30 am at least. Imagine, that’s a time people struggle to wake up on normal days and here we expect them to watch a film. I’d rather that they watch the film at the designated time, whether it is the morning show, matinee, etc.,” said Vijay, in conversation with Kannada Pichhar.

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Will Duniya Vijay’s Landlord get court directive to curb reviews? Director Jadeshaa K Hampi explains 

Interestingly, Vijay’s co-star Raj is a big fan of the paid premiere concept and has used it to great effect with his films like Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana and, more recently, Su From So. The film, meanwhile, also stars Vijay’s daughter Rithanya, for whom Landlord will be her debut. She is paired with Shishir Baikady of Daredevil Musthafa fame. Also on the cast are Rachita Ram, Umashree, Gopalkrishna Deshpande, Achyuth Kumar, among others, with Jadeshaa stating that the three women – Rachita, Rithanya and Umashree - are central to the narrative.

Set in the 80s, Landlord is a tale of a fight against oppression, with Vijay’s character taking up arms against Raj’s oppressive landlord. Visuals from the teaser and trailer have been reminiscent of the Darshan starrer Kaatera, which was also set in an that time period, involved a fight for rights under the land reform act and had been written by Jadeshaa.

Also read: Raj B Shetty on Landlord: As antagonist, I got a character with a lot of emotional range

Landlord FAQs

Q. What is Jadesha K Hampi's claim to fame?

A. Jadesha K Hampi has made films like Gentleman and Guru Shishyaru earlier and served as writer for Darshan Thoogudeepa's Kaatera, befor e returning to direction with Landlord.

Q. When is Landlord releasing in theatres?

A. Landlord will be in theatres on January 23, 2026. The film stars Duniya Vijay in the lead, along with Rachita Ram and Raj B Shetty.