Akshay Kumar's Laxmmi Bomb, Ajay Devgn's Bhuj, Alia Bhatt's Sadak 2 announce premieres on Disney+ Hotstar

Beginning with Dil Bechara (2020), starring the late Sushant Singh Rajput, Akshay Kumar's Laxmmi Bomb (2020), Ajay Devgn's Bhuj: The Pride Of India (2020), Alia Bhatt's Sadak 2 (2020), Abhishek Bachchan’s The Big Bull (2020), Vidyut Jammwal’s Khuda Hafiz (2020) and Kunal Kemmu’s Lootcase (2020) will be premiered online from July to October this year.

Some of the leading names in Hindi cinema, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt and Abhishek Bachchan, gathered together for a digital announcement with Star and Disney India chairman Uday Shankar and actor Varun Dhawan to present their upcoming films on Disney+ Hotstar.

The event, hosted by Dhawan, began with some banter as the actor introduced each of the stars and the Disney India chairman.

Titled ‘First Day First Show Ki Home Delivery’, the online platform will premiere the seven films online over the next few months. "It's been a challenge to keep the business going, but it's been a catalyst," Uday Shankar said of the new revamped streaming platform which was renamed Disney+ Hotstar during the lockdown.

Each of the stars spoke about how they were passing the time while spending more time at home. Bhatt, sporting a shorter hairdo, has been learning to play the guitar, while Dhawan took up yoga for the first time. Akshay Kumar joked that he and Varun’s filmmaker father David Dhawan would have made two or three films in this period.

The first film on the platform will be Dil Bechara, Mukesh Chhabra’s directorial debut, on 24 July. Rajput’s last film will be available free on the platform so non-subscribers can also catch it. Akshay Kumar, Devgn, Bachchan and Alia also unveiled new posters of the upcoming films.

Akshay, who plays a transgender character in the film, wears a sari for the first time on screen. Bhuj: The Pride Of India is based on a true story from the India-Pakistan war of 1971. The film, also starring Sanjay Dutt and Sonakshi Sinha, takes place over one day and night. Devgn shared his and Dutt’s character posters.

The Big Bull, directed by Kookie Gulati, also stars Ileana D'Cruz, Nikita Dutta, and Sohum Shah. Abhishek Bachchan plays a stock market trader in the film co-produced by Devgn.

Finally, the poster of Sadak 2, the long-awaited sequel to Sadak (1991), shows an open road against the backdrop of Mount Kailash. The film, which also stars Aditya Roy Kapur, Pooja Bhatt and Sanjay Dutt, is about the road to love. The villain is different in this film, the actress promised.

The stars of Khuda Hafiz and Lootcase, Vidyut Jammwal and Kunal Kemmu, respectively, were noticeably absent during the announcement. Jammwal made no secret of his displeasure at not being included in the event. "7 films scheduled for release but only 5 are deemed worthy of representation. 2 films receive no invitation or intimation. It’s a long road ahead. The cycle continues," he tweeted.