Speculations were rife about Akshay Kumar’s horror-comedy and Varun Dhawan’s comic-caper having their digital premieres on the same date, but now Laxmmi Bomb is set to release on November 9, while Coolie No. 1 is reportedly releasing on November 13
Several filmmakers seem to be opting for the OTT route and premiering their big ticket films digitally, albeit a little reluctantly rather than wait indefinitely for their films’ theatrical release, given the current pandemic situation. Among these big ticket films were Akshay Kumar’s Laxmmi Bomb and Varun Dhawan’s Coolie No 1, both of which were slated to release in theatres early this year. While Coolie No 1 was scheduled for a May 1 release, Laxmmi Bomb was to be an Eid release.
However following the global Coronovirus pandemic, the subsequent lockdown that caused the film’s release to be postponed and the indefinite wait for theatres to open, the filmmakers finally decided to go ahead and release their films on digital platforms. Keeping in mind the ongoing IPL season in Dubai and the Diwali, it was being speculated that both the films will want a mega-Diwali release date, which would be November 13th, the closest Friday to Diwali (November 14).
There was a strong buzz that the biggies would be vying for the same date for their digital premieres. What would heat up the clash further is the fact that the two films are releasing on two rival streaming giants – Laxmmi Bomb on Disney+ Hotstar and Coolie No 1 on Amazon Prime Video. However, looks like this clash may have been averted. With Akshay Kumar announcing his film’s release date to be November 9, reports of Coolie No 1 opting for November 13 for the premiere are doing the rounds. This means that the two films will have a window of a week’s time, and given the OTT platform, it’s more than enough for both the films to not get affected by each other in terms of views.
Akshay Kumar’s Laxmmi Bomb co-starring Kiara Advani is being helmed by South filmmaker Raghava Lawrence, who is making his Bollywood directorial debut with this Hindi remake of the superhit Tamil horror-comedy Muni 2 Kanchana (2011). The film has been generating much excitement as it will see Akshay playing the role of a man possessed by the spirit of a transgender. The film also has Lawrence direct his own’s Tamil film’s Hindi remake, which is a draw for his South fans too.
Meanwhile, Varun Dhawan’s film sees him pair up with Sara Ali Khan in the remake of his father, filmmaker David Dhawan’s Govinda-Karisma Kapoor starrer Coolie No 1 (1995). While it’s interesting to see Varun get into Govinda’s shoes for this one and Sara play Karisma’s role, what’s equally exciting is Varun being directed by his father once again after Judwaa 2 (2017) and David Dhawan directing his own film’s remake.