Shivarajkumar’s Bhajarangi 2 to release on October 29?

Since movie halls reopened after the second wave of the pandemic, stakeholders from the film industry, especially exhibitors, have been waiting for that one big Kannada release that will bring audiences back in the droves. Shivarajkumar’s much-awaited Bhajarangi 2 was widely seen as the film with this responsibility, with other film teams set to plan their releases based on how audiences react to a big movie in theatres.

The A Harsha directorial was earlier slated for a September 10 release, but had to be pushed further as theatres in the state continue to operate at 50% capacity only, with night curfew in force in several key districts. Although night curfew has been eased in most places, there is still no official word on when the government will allow theatres to open with 100% capacity. Recently a delegation of stakeholders from the Kannada film industry, including producers Jayanna, KP Sreekanth and Soorappa Babu, who are holding on to the release of three big films, namely, Bhajarangi 2, Salaga, and Kotigobba 3, met with state health minister K Sudhakar for a possible resolution in the matter. According to sources, the meeting went well and an announcement on allowing 100% occupancy is expected any day now.

Amid all this, the buzz now is that Bhajarangi 2 is zeroing in on an October 29 release, ahead of Deepavali. There is no official confirmation yet, but that could be the most likely scenario, allowing the makers enough time for publicity as well. It was earlier reported that Kotigobba 3, would be in theatres on October 14, during the Dasara festivities, but according to the latest, the teams of these three films will arrive at a final decision on their release plans only after government approval on theatre occupancy.

If the buzz is to be believed, Shivanna’s film. in which he is paired with Bhavana, will lead the charge in helping Kannada cinema recover from the losses incurred due to the pandemic.