Farhan Akhtar and Mrunal Thakur's Toofan postponed, Excel Entertainment releases official statement

Toofan Poster, Picture Courtesy: PR

Farhan Akhtar, Mrunal Thakur, and Paresh Rawal were coming together for Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's boxing drama, Toofan. The teaser left a lot of excitement among the viewers and the film was all set to stream on Amazon Prime Video from May 21 onwards. However, the plan has been postponed.

Excel Entertainment released an official statement on its Instagram account. An update regarding the new date shall be given by the makers soon. They wrote, "The situation in India is truly heart-breaking, and we at Excel Entertainment and ROMP Pictures send our thoughts and prayers to everyone affected by the pandemic."

Have a look at the post right here:

This film was originally planned for a theatrical release on October 2 and then September 18, 2020. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, it took the digital route later.

As stated, the surge in the number of Covid-19 cases around the country is the concern of the hour and this step by Excel Entertainment and ROMP Pictures is a welcomed step, despite the excitement around the project.

In keeping with the narrative of the sports drama, Akhtar has sported three distinct looks, going from the lean street fighter to an unfit boxer who has given up on his dream, and finally, displaying the ripped physique of a professional pugilist. Where a boxer's look was the result of a daily rigorous workout, he had to gain 20 kilos to attain the out-of-work unfit avatar.

"We tried prosthetics, and even considered VFX, but we weren't satisfied. So, Farhan had to put on about 15 to 20 kilos," says director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. The filmmaker shot the portions depicting his unfit look right before the lockdown in 2020, thus saving Akhtar the trouble of having to retain the physique during the stay-at-home period.