While the theatres have finally opened up, the footfall has been rather low. Reliance Entertainment, which had earlier vouched to release Ranveer Singh's '83 and Akshay Kumar's Sooryavanshi in 2020, have now pushed both films to the first quarter of 2021. In the meantime, they hope to capture the attention of ardent fans of the horror genre with Gillian Jacobs' Come Play. "In all fairness, it was the number one film when released during the Halloween weekend in the US. While the audience is looking for comedy, the horror genre has a strong niche audience who are much more loyal," says Shibasish Sarkar, CEO, Reliance Entertainment.

Set to hit theatres on November 27, Come Play, directed by Jacob Chase features John Gallagher Jr, Azhy Robertson, and Winslow Fegle. Hoping to garner higher occupancy in theatres, Sarkar intends to aggressively market the film. "I don't have expectations in terms of value. My plan is to market it aggressively so that we can increase footfalls. Nobody wants to see re-releases," says Sarkar, adding that the film will be released in over 100 screens.

Ask him on the new release dates of Sooryavanshi and '83 and he confirms that both projects will release between January and March. "We intend to release both within a gap of four weeks. The final decision will be made in December," says Sarkar, adding that he is not worried even if the date gets pushed. "We don't want to hold the films, but even if they had come after another 12 months, they would still be relevant."