Troubles Piling Up For Devara
After the massive success of RRR, NTR joined hands with Koratala Siva for the adventure drama film Devara. Originally set for a grand multilingual release on April 5, the film faces a tough challenge in the Hindi belt. The multistarrer Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, starring Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff, is already scheduled for an Eid 2024 release. Adding to the competition, Ajay Devgn’s long-awaited sports drama Maidaan, centered around football coach Syed Abdul Rahim, is also slated for an Eid 2024 release. Directed by the talented Amit Sharma, Maidaan interestingly, was initially supposed to be Keerthy Suresh’s Hindi debut.
Currently, there are speculations about Devara’s release date possibly changing due to the elections in Andhra Pradesh. If April is fixed for the elections, Devara might be rescheduled to a later date; otherwise, it’s set to arrive on April 5. The exact release date for Maidaan is still pending, adding complexity to the clash. Exhibitors in the North foresee a challenging situation amid this clash of three films, anticipating potential conflicts over screen sharing. Politics may come into play, with each producer vying to grab as many screens as possible. In short, if Devara sticks to April 5, it won’t have a free run in the Northern belts. The filmmakers aimed to make a significant impact in the Hindi market to expand NTR’s reach after RRR, evident in casting Janhvi Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan. However, with a clash, that advantage may get wasted. The question arises: will this clash be as ugly as the Dunki Vs. Salaar clash, or could it prove to be even worse? Time will tell the answer.
