The Coronavirus pandemic has brought the entire world to a standstill. The Hindi film industry has also been hit by the outbreak of COVID-19 in India as theatres have been shut down and shootings and post-production put on a halt. Several films that missed their theatrical release date have found a way to reach the audience through digital platforms. Vidya Balan’s Shakuntala Devi, Ayushmann Khurrana’s and Amitabh Bachchan’s Gulabo Sitabo are a few that are ready to release on OTT.
Recently, Vidya had taken to Instagram to announce that her film Shakuntala Devi biopic on the Indian mathematician will be released on Amazon Prime Video. However, she did not reveal the date of the release, but now as per entertainment journalist Rahul Raut, the film will release on July 31 on Amazon Prime Video.
Okay, Lemme announce my comeback with an exclusive and a very exciting news... @vidya_balan's much-anticipated #ShakuntalaDevi biopic will release on @PrimeVideoIN on 31st July!! #ShakuntalaDeviOnPrime @TheAmitSadh @sanyamalhotra07 @SonyPicsIndia @vikramix
— Rahul Raut (@Rahulrautwrites) June 11, 2020
Talking about the film going for a straight digital release, Vidya had previously told a leading daily, “I understand theatre owners being miffed, but Shakuntala Devi has already missed the scheduled release date, and later we may not have gotten the desired window. So we had to do what we had to do. Now, people are reacting to a situation, rather than responding to it. Shakuntala Devi was meant for a theatre release but this is a unique situation, and we have to look at the larger picture. We will, of course, go back to theatres. But I'm also glad we have avenues like OTT platforms to turn to at this time.”
Shakuntala Devi is directed by Anu Menon and the film is produced by Vikram Malhotra. The film also stars Sanya Malhotra as Shakuntala’s (Vidya) daughter Anupama Banerji and Amit Sadh will play the latter’s son-in-law. Jisshu Sengupta will play Vidya’s husband in the film.
(Source: Twitter)
