If the weekend curfew is not extended, Vikrant Rona will release on February 24: Manjunath Gowda

Kichcha Sudeep’s Vikrant Rona is the first big-budget A-list star release of the year, slated to hit theatres on February 24. The film, which was initially planned for an August 2021 release and was then pushed ahead to make way for other movies that were ready, was subsequently converted to 3D and prepared for an even better theatrical experience. This was done as the pandemic appeared to be waning, but things changed almost overnight when cases began to increase exponentially again, forcing governments across the country (and abroad) to bring back strict restrictions.

In Karnataka, the government first announced restrictions on night-time movement of citizens, which it followed up with weekend curfew, whereby movie halls could not operate on Saturday and Sunday and have no late-night shows either. Considering that the major share of a film’s collection is made over the weekend, (especially the release weekend), this restriction has forced several filmmakers to push their releases ahead. As of now, Prem’s Ek Love Ya and Siddharth Mahesh’s Garuda, both January 21 releases, have been postponed indefinitely. This is apart from other big-ticket films like RRR, Jersey, Radhe Shyam, etc. Dayal Padmanabhan’s Ombatthane Dikku (January 280, MG Srinivas’s Old Monk (February 11) and Darling Krishna’s Love Mocktail 2 (February 11) have not announced any change in their plans yet. Kichcha Sudeep’s Vikrant Rona is also steadfastly holding on to its February 24 plan.

According to the film’s producer Manjunath Gowda, known popularly as Jack Manju, Vikrant Rona will be a February 24 release if weekend curfew is not extended beyond January 24 and the pandemic does not play spoilsport. Speaking to news media, the filmmaker reiterated that the decision to forego a direct-to-OTT release, despite lucrative offers, was because the film has been converted to 3D and that its making quality was complemented by good content, giving him and the rest of the team the confidence to wait it out for a theatrical release.

The pan-india film Vikrant Rona, directed by Anup Bhandari, also stars Nirup Bhandari, Neetha Ashok and Jacqueline Fernandez, among others.