On Saturday, April 11, Bollywood Hungama reported that, following directives from the Ministry of Defence, China will not be named in the Salman Khan-starrer Maatrubhumi. The news went viral in no time and became not just a trending Bollywood topic but also national news. Meanwhile, murmurs began circulating that the film might not be released in cinemas and that the makers were considering bringing it directly to an OTT platform. Bollywood Hungama has now learned that there is no truth to this chatter.
A source told Bollywood Hungama, “Salman continues to be a mega star and he has mounted Maatrubhumi on a grand scale. It’s a film for the big screen and hence, he and director Apoorva Lakhia are committed to releasing the film theatrically once the issues surrounding the film are resolved.”
An industry insider commented, “There’s a general misconception among certain people that there’s no censorship on OTT. Hence, they feel that if Salman Khan opts to skip a theatrical release, he’ll be able to drop the film on OTT without any problem. However, that’s not how it works. Every film that releases directly on streaming platforms also goes through the certification process, just like any theatrical film. So, even for a direct-to-OTT premiere, the government must clear the film before it can be presented to the public.”
On April 11, Bollywood Hungama quoted a source who said, “Earlier, the film was inspired by a real event. But as per the request of the Ministry of Defence, Salman Khan and director Apoorva Lakhia reshot the film by adding a fictional spin to the story. Accordingly, he reshot nearly 40% of the film as he added some romantic scenes, backstory, etc. The makers submitted the new cut, hoping that they would get the NOC. But the Ministry still has apprehensions.”
The source added, “One of the requests to Salman Khan is that China shouldn’t be mentioned in the film. This was communicated to the makers in advance. The cut of Maatrubhumi, which was submitted earlier this month, has no mention of China.” The source further said that only those in the core team of Maatrubhumi are aware as to how the neighbouring country has been depicted or mentioned without naming it.
Also Read: Why has Salman Khan’s Maatrubhumi not locked its release date yet? Here’s what we know!
