Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; December 29, 2017)

Even though the first two installments of the Dabangg franchise were well received, the third part of the Salman Khan starrer struggles to go on floors. After it was initially speculated that Prabhudheva was putting an Abhishek Bachchan starrer on hold to kick off Khan’s action-comedy, mid-day has now learnt that it is in fact Dabangg 3 that has been put on the backburner.

To blame is Khan’s busy schedule. The actor has Remo D’Souza’s actioner, Race 3 in his kitty. As he continues to film for the venture, he has also announced Bharat, another Ali Abbaz Zafar directorial, for an Eid 2019 release.

A source tells mid-day that inevitably, it is brother Arbaaz Khan’s production that has suffered. “Race 3 will be completed in three months. But Salman will then kick-off Bharat, which is eyeing a 2019 Eid release. Meanwhile, Salman is also working out the nitty gritties to take his Dabangg tour to Europe, and a few Indian cities. So, for now, he has requested that Dabangg 3 be put on hold.”

It is also suggested that the Khan brothers are keen to greenlight a meaty script for part three. Given that fans appreciated the first two parts, they do not wish to disappoint with this installment.

Arbaaz Khan remained unavailable for a comment.