Those who love a good fight must have been waiting eagerly for the box-office clash between Kangana Ranaut’s Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi and Hrithik Roshan’s Super 30, given the bitter history between the two stars.
Of course, Emraan Hashmi’s Cheat India was also scheduled to be released on the same day, 25 January 2019.
But while Manikarnika and Cheat India are on course to be released on 25 January, it appears that Super 30 may not meet the deadline.
A source associated with the film told Cinestaan.com, “Last heard the firm was in the editing stage. There has been talk of the film being pushed to March or perhaps further. But it looks unlikely that it will come out on 25 January.”
Another source associated with the film was similarly sceptical. “The film is ready, it’s been largely edited, but I believe the digital imagery work remains. There is just over a month left for 25 January and so far we haven’t heard anything from the producers. Ideally, promotions begin 30-45 days before a release. So, it’s highly unlikely that the film will come out on 25 January.”
Super 30 has also been marred by controversy after director Vikas Bahl was accused of sexually harassing a colleague at the now-defunct Phantom Films.
Following the allegations, Hrithik Roshan called upon producers Sajid Nadiadwala and Reliance Entertainment to look into the charges against the director. There has even been talk of removing Bahl’s name from the film’s credits.
One of the two sources we spoke to, however, felt that would be unfair to the director. “These controversies have also caused the delay,” the source said. “How can the director’s credited be removed when there is no legal case against him?”
Super 30 is inspired by the life of mathematician Anand Kumar, whose own credibility had come into question earlier this year when he was accused of fraud, following which the producers had claimed that all reference to him had been removed.
Attempts to contact Reliance Entertainment CEO Shibashish Sarkar were in vain.