After the Maharashtra Government announced reopening of cinemas in the state from November 5 with 50 per cent of seating capacity outside containment zones, Mirror had reported that wedding comedy, Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari, fronted by Diljit Dosanjh, Fatima Sana Shaikh and Manoj Bajpayee, is likely to open in the theatres this Diwali. Before the coronavirus pandemic hit businesses for six Akshay Kumar’s cop thriller, Sooryavanshi, which had been announced as a Diwali release, and Ranveer Singh’s sports drama '83 which was to arrive this Christmas, have been pushed to 2021. However, Hollywood biggie, Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, is gearing up for an unveiling in the next couple of weeks to compensate for the disappointment to the trade and film buffs alike.

“Had the announcement come a week earlier, they would have arrived on the Diwali weekend. They are currently speaking to the stakeholders, including cinema owners about release strategy and are looking to open in India either on November 20 or the week after,” revealed a source, adding that being a tent pole Hollywood film, a well thought-out marketing campaign needs to precede its release, particularly in the metros, to get the audience back to the theatres.

India will be among the last countries where Tenet will be opening, the release delayed by almost two months owing to the continued closure of cinemas. Interestingly, the film also had a brief shoot in Mumbai last year. The espionage thriller, featuring John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki and Dimple Kapadia in pivotal roles, saw a staggered release across the globe, starting with the UK on August 26 and the US on September 3. It was appreciated by the critics and surpassed general expectations as far as the opening weekend predictions were concerned. However, in the long run, it could not sustain the hype. Its not-so-impressive run forced other Hollywood biggies like Wonder Woman 1984 and the Bond thriller, No Time To Die, to push their release to next year.

Nolan, in a recent interview, however, was “thrilled” with the way the film fared in the midst of a pandemic and was quoted saying, “I am worried that the studios are drawing the wrong conclusions from our release—that rather than looking at where the film has worked well and how that can provide them the much needed revenue, they are looking at where it hasn’t lived up to the pre-Covid expectations and will start using that as an excuse to make exhibition take all the losses from the pandemic instead of getting in the game and adapting—or rebuilding our business, in other words.”