'Martin can't be released until IPL, Karnataka elections...': A.P. Arjun shares crucial update

Action Prince Dhruva Sarja is set to begin his 2023 with the mega-action drama Martin, a film that sees him reunite with A.P. Arjun. The duo is back together for a collaboration after a gap of more than a decade and unlike the previous occasion, both the scale of the project and the expectations surrounding it have been cranked up. 

As the audience counts down to the launch of the teaser of the film, which is scheduled to take place on February 23, the question regarding the theatrical release, too, crops up. In a recent press meet held in Bengaluru, director A.P. Arjun, who was flanked by his leading man Dhruva Sarja on one side and producer Uday K. Mehta on the other, shared a few interesting details of team Martin's release strategy. Suggesting that although the film is ready to be brought out in cinema halls, the filmmaker added that the team is looking out for the right window of time for the pan-Indian theatrical release.

"We have the end-of-term and other board exams coming up in March and the Indian Premier League starts soon after that. IPL goes on for a couple of months and by then, the Karnataka elections will be held in the month of May. It would have been easier for us to tackle any one of the three major events but with them occurring on the trot, it would tough for us to release the film. So, the idea is to see all three events through and then release Martin in theatres. We won't be discussing any potential date, though, but it is certain that Martin will be released at the most suitable hour," said A.P. Arjun.

With the release now postponed till May at the least, one could expect Martin to be a mid-2023 release. The film was initially scheduled to release on 30th September 2022, but the makers bowed out at the eleventh hour and chose to bring their film out at a more appropriate time.

"The production was in full swing until the coronavirus pandemic stalled us for a couple of months. And once we resumed, Dhruva heard that his grandmother was unwell so we couldn't burden him with the shoot and this meant that the shoot was stopped again. Although we had set a different date previously, we realized that the delays won't let us release the film as planned so we decided to conclude the production as planned, let the CGI & post-production, too, take their own time and then decide on the release date. Also, with Martin being a pan-Indian film, one has to be aware of the releases in other industries as well before finalizing the release," added A.P. Arjun.