Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s upcoming film Pathaan is scheduled for release later in January. The action film is SRK’s first film in a lead role since 2018. The film will hit the theatres first and OTT platforms months later once the buzz around theatre cools down. The filmmakers have not given an official date for the OTT release, but it was recently revealed during a court hearing.
On January 16, Yash Raj Films informed the court that the film is scheduled for OTT release on Amazon’s Prime Video on April 25. That means the makers have scheduled the OTT release three months after the theatrical release. During the hearing, the court directed the production house to prepare subtitles, close captioning, and audio descriptions of the film in Hindi and get it recertified from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). The orders were passed to facilitate hearing and visually-impaired individuals who want to see the film on OTT platforms.
The court therefore directed the producers to submit the close captioning, subtitles and audio description to CBFC for the movie’s OTT release by Feb 20. CBFC will take a decision on the same by March 10.
— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) January 16, 2023
The movie is set to release on @PrimeVideo on April 25.
The court was hearing a petition filed by a group of lawyers, law students, and visually impaired individuals seeking directions from the court to YRF to make arrangements so that disabled individuals could also enjoy the film. Justice Prathiba M Singh, however, did not pass any similar directions for screening in the theatres as the film is scheduled for January 25 release.
However, Justice Prathiba M Singh refused to pass any directions wrt to Pathaan’s screening in theatres noting that the movie is set to be released on Jan 25 and there are very few days left. #DelhiHighCourt @yrf @iamsrk
— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) January 16, 2023
During the hearing, the court said that the authorities are obligated to ensure visually and hearing-impaired individuals have content available for their entertainment. The court also added that special measures need to be taken so that such individuals can enjoy films in the theatres as well.
The court asked the producers to complete the process by February 20 and asked CBFC to issue a certificate by March 10.
Pathaan is an upcoming action film produced by Yash Raj Films (YRF). It is part of the YRF Spy Universe that includes the Tiger series featuring Salman Khan and War starring Hrithik Roshan. SRK, Deepika Padukone, John Abraham, Ashutosh Rana, and Dimple Kapadia are playing lead roles in Pathaan. The film has already faced multiple controversies, varying from picking up frame-by-frame scenes from other films to hurting Hindu sentiments in the ‘Besharam Rang’ song and reusing music in another song from an old composition by music composers Vishaal-Shekhar.
