Rohit Shetty on waiting for a theatrical release for Sooryavanshi: People said no one would turn up

As Sooryavanshi brings cheer to the box office by breaching the Rs 150-crore mark, director Shetty on how his business acumen helped them see promise in a cinematic release

Filmmaker Rohit Shetty’s cop action drama Sooryavanshi, starring Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif, which opened in cinemas a day after Diwali, has crossed the Rs 150 crore-mark in just 10 days.

Film critic and movie trade analyst Taran Adarsh confirmed the news on social media yesterday, adding,  “If the movie maintains the consistency, there’s a strong chance it will pass [the] Rs 200-crore mark.” 

Rohit Shetty

The film, which released on November 5, set the box-office cash registers ringing after a lull of one-and-a-half-years due to the pandemic. 

Shetty has heaved a sigh of relief following news of the film’s success. “We fought for almost 19 months. Everyone told me my decision [to wait till theatres reopened] was wrong. Right up till last Thursday, people called me mad and said no one would turn up. But there was a belief that they would come. We analysed a lot of things  — including the Ganesh Utsav, Navratri, reopening of  schools and malls, and people’s return to work — and [realised] that people would come to the theatres. Someone had to take the first step. It was worth taking.”

He admits that while he got lucrative offers from OTT platforms, he was eager to see his film release on the big screen. “People said, cinemas are dead, and there was no future of films, theatrically. In my office too, people said we should move on. But I wanted to wait.”

Also Read: Sooryavanshi Box-Office: Akshay Kumar’s film crosses the 150-crore mark

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