Early morning drama: Dhurandhar releases across the country despite late delivery of content; Gaiety-Galaxy deadlock ends on release day

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It was a day of tension and drama for exhibitors across the country as there was no clarity on the delivery of the content of the two major new releases, Dhurandhar and Akhanda 2. The latter finally got pushed indefinitely, reportedly due to legal issues. As for Dhurandhar, the film also was in the news on December 4 after the press show got pushed and ultimately got cancelled. Many on the internet unfairly tried to generate a narrative that the makers purposely did so. However, exhibition sources confirmed that there was a technical glitch which led to the cancellation of the media screening.

Dhurandhar releases across the country despite late delivery of content; Gaiety-Galaxy deadlock ends on release day

Early morning drama: Dhurandhar releases across the country despite late delivery of content; Gaiety-Galaxy deadlock ends on release day

Nevertheless, the theatres remained in panic as the film wasn't delivered entirely until December 4 night. An exhibition source told Bollywood Hungama, "Usually, the makers provide the content a few days before to the theatres. But in case of Dhurandhar, the content was delivered in the evening of December 4, that too, just the first half!"

The source continued, "The second half was delivered early morning on December 5. But in few cinemas, there was a delay and hence, the early morning shows didn't take place. But overall, majority of the early shows did start as scheduled. The first show of the country took place at PVR The Capital Mall, Nalasopara East, near Mumbai, at 7:15 am. The show was played as the team of the film must have downloaded the content very early in the morning."

Meanwhile, what shocked the industry and trade was the fear that Dhurandhar will not release in Mumbai's iconic G7 multiplex, also popularly called as Gaiety-Galaxy.

A trade source said, "The bookings started on Tuesday. 3 shows of the film were to be played in the 1000-seater Gaiety, at 12:00 pm, 4:00 pm and 9:00 pm. Only three shows were scheduled probably due to the long length. But soon, the booking was suspended. Until Thursday 10 pm, the management of G7 had not started booking in Gaiety or any other cinema hall."

The trade source added, “However, in the morning of December 5, the distribution team of Dhurandhar resolved the issue. They demanded shows in both Gaiety and Galaxy. G7 management offered Gaiety as they wanted to play Tere Ishk Mein in Galaxy; the last week’s release is doing well in their cinema. But Jio team demanded shows in both the big cinema halls of the cinema complex. Finally, on Friday morning, their demand was met.”

Also Read: SCOOP: Delivery of Dhurandhar’s IMAX prints delayed; IMAX properties might play non-IMAX version of Ranveer Singh-starrer on release day