On June 15, Akshay Kumar surprised us by announcing that Bell Bottom would go ahead with a theatrical release on July 27. Back then the COVID cases were steadily dropping, and Maharashtra Government had put in place a level-wise unlock plan. Everybody was expecting theatres to open almost everywhere in India, including major centers of Maharashtra as well as Delhi. But that was then. The new Delta plus variant, which is more transmissible, has already started playing havoc and can lead to a third wave anytime. Taking this into account the State Government has removed levels 1 and 2 from the unlock plan and has made level 3 the base level, which means that no theatres shall open across the state. With Maharashtra, along with Kerala, contributing almost 50% of the all-India cases, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra has taken a conservative stand. That said, the positivity rate has remained below 2% in Mumbai on most days of the last two weeks, and relaxations are expected from July 15. As per a source, even if theatres open from July 15, it will be too little a time for Bell Bottom for promotions. Just 12 days of promotions for a movie as big as Bell Bottom will not go well, and hence the makers have decided to postpone its release. They are looking for an August 13 release date now as it may benefit them since there are some holidays lined up during that time, like Parsi New Year and Muharram. There are also talks of releasing it on July 20, two days before Raksha Bandhan. However, there is no clear picture yet. But July 27 is definitely out of cards now.
