Alia Bhatt, Janhvi Kapoor, Varun Dhawan and more celebrate as Maha CM allows theatres to reopen

Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt and Janhvi Kapoor were among the many Bollywood stars who welcomed Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray’s announcement of reopening cinema halls from October 22 in the state. 

On Saturday, Thackeray confirmed the news through a statement and tweet. “Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has announced that cinemas and theaters in the state will be allowed to open after October 22 in compliance with health norms,” read the statement from the CMO, as reported by ANI. 

“Theatres and auditoriums in Maharashtra will open after 22nd October 2021 while observing all COVID safety protocols. SOP is in the works and will be declared soon,” CMO Maharashtra tweeted.

Following the news, several Bollywood stars took to their Instagram accounts and celebrated. Varun Dhawan, who had previously expressed his opinion on the theatres ordered to remain shut in Maharashtra, shared a post featuring the news update on his Instagram Stories and added a gif of himself dancing. 

Alia Bhatt followed, sharing the same post with a gif of an animated character celebrating. Janhvi Kapoor shared the post as well and wrote, “Can this be true?” Malaika Arora also welcomed the news with a hoot. 

With the announcement of the theatres reopening, Rohit Shetty and Karan Johar announced the release date of their long-delayed film, Sooryavanshi. The cop-themed film, starring Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif in the lead, will release on Diwali. 

Sharing a picture of Rohit and Thackeray, Karan wrote, “Theatres to open in Maharashtra effective from the the 22nd of October…. Finally we can say AA RAHI HAI POLICE!!! #Sooryavanshi A @itsrohitshetty film! This DIWALI!!!!!”

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The film also stars Ajay Devgn and Ranveer Singh as well, reprising their roles from the films Singham and Simmba, respectively. Sooryavanshi is set to clash with Marvel Studios’ Eternals. 

A number of movies have been delayed due to the pandemic. Besides Sooryavanshi, films such as ’83, Gangubai Kathiawadi, and Laal Singh Chaddha were forced to push their release dates.