Sooryavanshi has been unfairly targetted by many of Akshay Kumar fans on social media for what was a very strategic move. Sooryavanshi, directed by hit-maker Rohit Shetty and co-produced by Karan Johar, was earlier scheduled to release on Eid 2020. Eid, as you know, is Salman Khan's favourite period to release his movies. But when Sooryavanshi was first announced to come out on this date, there was no Salman Khan film in the vicinity. Sooryavanshi: Anupam Kher Visits the Sets; Shares a Still With Akshay Kumar, Rohit Shetty and Son Sikander – See Pic.
Then Inshallah happened. Salman Khan reunited with his Khamoshi director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, with Alia Bhatt also as the lead, for the film and booked Eid 2020 as the release date. Thereon, rumours were strife that Sooryavanshi might shift its release date.
This was confirmed on June 12, with Karan Johar and Rohit Shetty getting Salman Khan himself to tweet about the new release date for Sooryavanshi, which is March 27, 2020. They thought this move would assure fans that this isn't a backing out strategy.
I always thought of him as my younger brother and today he proves it... #RohitShetty
Sooryavanshi releasing on 27th March, 2020. pic.twitter.com/KGHsej3Bow
— Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) June 12, 2019
However, Akshay Kumar fans lashed out against them, especially Rohit Shetty for backing out of the clash, showing themselves as the weaker side here. Fans were also annoyed that Salman Khan didn't mention Akshay in his tweet. The outrage was so much that Akshay had to put out the below tweet to calm them.
— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) June 14, 2019
Now a report in Deccan Chronicle claims that Akshay Kumar was not aware of the shift of dates for Sooryavanshi, and it was planned between Salman and Rohit. A source told the publication, "Akshay was not even taken into confidence before the decision to prepone Sooryavanshi was made. It was all decided between Salman and Rohit Shetty, and the announcement was made on a public platform. This has left Akshay fuming. Akshay was in no mood to move this time. It was all done between Salman Khan and Rohit Shetty."
We really don't know how true this story is, since it would be incredulous to think Rohit and Karan Johar would keep Akshay Kumar, a big superstar himself out of the loop for such an important move. It is interesting to note here, though, that while Salman, Rohit and Karan tweeted about the new release date, Akshay didn't tweet anything about it. Akshay Kumar Responds to the #ShameonRohitShetty Trend Started By His Fans on Twitter for Changing Sooryavanshi's Release Date - Read Tweet.
While this may look suspicious, let's get further back in time on May 18, 2019. Akshay Kumar had shared the first poster of his Kanchana remake, Laxmmi Bomb, which mentioned that the movie will release on June 5, 2020. Since Sooryavanshi was earlier supposed to come out on May 27, why would Akshay be releasing another film of his merely two weeks after that? Wouldn't this mean that the change in release date for Sooryavanshi had always been in the cards?
Sooryavanshi is the fourth entry in the Singham-verse, that also consists of Ajay Devgn's Singham and Singham Returns, and Ranveer Singh's Simmba. Akshay Kumar had teased his character of Veer Sooryavanshi, an ATS officer, towards the end of Simmba. Sooryavanshi has Katrina Kaif as the female lead, and also stars Neena Gupta and Sikander Kher.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 18, 2019 05:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).