The makers of actor Kangana Ranaut-led "Thalaivi" on Friday announced they have deferred the release of the film due to the surge in COVID-19 cases in India.
The multilingual biographical film about the life of J Jayalalithaa, former Tamil Nadu CM and actor, was gearing to release theatrically on April 23.
In a statement posted on Twitter, production house Zee Studios said the team has decided to push the release as people's safety is their priority.
"Since the film has been made in multiple languages, we would like to release it in all languages on the same day.
"But with an alarming rise in COVID-19 cases, subsequent precautions and lockdowns, even though our film is ready for release on 23rd April, we want to extend all the support towards the government rules and regulations and have decided to postpone release of 'Thalaivi,'" the statement read.
Directed by Vijay and written by KV Vijayendra Prasad, "Thalaivi" also stars Arvind Swami, Madhoo, Prakash Raj, Jisshu Sengupta, Bhagyashree, and Poorna.
Earlier this week, the makers of Akshay Kumar-starrer "Sooryavanshi" also announced that the cop drama has been pushed and will not release on April 30 due to the surge in COVID-19 cases.
India registered a record single-day spike of 1,31,968 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, pushing its infection tally to 1,30,60,542, while the death toll increased to 1,67,642 with 780 more fatalities in a day.
