Coronavirus update: Yash Raj Films postpones Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar

Yash Raj Films has decided to postpone the release of the long-delayed Arjun Kapoor-Parineeti Chopra feature, Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar.

The film was slated for release in theatres next Friday, 20 March. However, with the coronavirus pandemic driving state governments across India to shut down theatres and other public spaces, the makers have been forced to delay the film's release until the pandemic subsides.

This is the third film to be delayed by the global pandemic. Earlier, Rohit Shetty's Sooryavanshi and Rohena Gera's festival favourite Sir were also postponed for similar reasons.

On Friday, two Marathi films, the Subhash Ghai-produced Vijeta, and Milind Lele's AB Aani CD, were also pulled out of theatres at the last minute.

In view of the growing number of infected people, the Maharashtra government has called for cinema halls, gymnasia, public swimming pools and malls in five major cities in the state to be shut till 31 March.

Directed by Dibakar Banerjee, Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar was in limbo for the past two years. After the project was announced in 2017, the film ran into several delays. It was originally slated for release on 3 August 2018, but the date was later pushed to 1 March 2019 and again to 20 March 2020.

Now, the pandemic has forced the makers to put the film's release on hold again.