Farhan Akhtar's 'Toofan' takes OTT route, won't release in cinemas

An industry source told Bollywood Hungama that there was no clarity about the movie's release after the lockdown.

"With the lockdown in effect, the film's release was put on hold indefinitely. Though it comes as a surprise that the director Rakesh Omprakash Mehra and producers opted for a direct to OTT release rather than a conventional theatrical release," the source added.

In the movie, Akhtar will be seen as a national-level boxing player. The film also features actors Mrunal Thakur and Paresh Rawal in pivotal roles.

This will mark the second collaboration between director Mehra and Akhtar after the superhit Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, a biopic on the life of star athlete Milkha Singh.

The film has been produced by Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani.

Apart from acting in and producing Toofan, the actor is also producing the movie Sharmaji Namkeen.

The film was stalled due to the unfortunate passing of actor Rishi Kapoor. Reports claimed Paresh Rawal could essay the role now.

Akhtar's last on-screen outing was The Sky is Pink (2019), where he worked with Priyanka Chopra Jonas. The film also starred Zaira Wasim and Rohit Saraf.

When cinema halls shut down due to the pandemic last year, many big banner movies took the OTT route. Films like Gulabo Sitabo starring Amitabh Bachchan, Laxxmi starring Akshay Kumar, and Ludo starring Rajkummar Rao, came directly on streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

Keeping up with the trend, Netflix also released a slate of 41 releases across genres and formats.