The Salman Khan Maatrubhumi release date of 4 December is confirmed, after the star told the Mumbai trailer launch audience that the film’s earlier date was wrong and its visual effects were not finished. The date flashed up on screen as 20 November, then the team hid it, according to Filmverse on 7 November. Salman announced the real date himself.
“Yes, we put the tape [on the November 20 mention] as our VFX is not yet done,” he told the launch audience. “We thought we’d show you the garma-garam trailer here. But our VFX company had to face a little bit of [delay]. So, we are showing the trailer only to you guys.” The nearly five-minute trailer was screened only for the people in the room, with its online release to follow.
“Sab bakwas hain”
Salman used the launch to knock down reports that the government pressured the makers to change the script, dismissing the claims as “bakwas”, according to Bollywood Hungama. “There’s this narrative that our film is against China or that our government has put pressure on us to change the script. Yeh sab bakwaas hain. It’s not true at all. We have made a film on soldiers, their families, and what they go through on both sides,” he said.
He also called Maatrubhumi a rare film that does not show the other side negatively, joking: “I don’t think China will see the film and say, ‘Salman Khan ne picture banayi yahaan par. Attack karo India par!'” Directed by Apoorva Lakhia, it stars Salman as Colonel Bikumalla Santosh Babu of the June 2020 Galwan Valley clash, with Chitrangda Singh as the female lead, and passed the Central Board of Film Certification without any cuts.
Rs 11 tickets and a biopic joke
Salman also announced viewers above 75 can watch Maatrubhumi for just Rs. 11. Asked whether his life could inspire a biopic, he laughed it off, saying there was nothing worth filming, before adding: “Lekin aisa bahut kuch hai, agar woh saamne aa gaya toh bahut saare log doob jaayenge” — there is a lot that, if it comes out, will bring many people down, according to IB9 TV on 6 November.
The film is not a biopic, Salman stressed — “Maatrubhumi bilkul bhi biopic nahin hai” — quoting his father Salim Khan: in war, a bullet that reaches its target also reaches a mother’s heart. The film focuses on hand-to-hand combat: “It’s about the Chinese and us.”
Delays have dogged the production: first set for 17 April, it was pushed back after Chitrangda Singh’s injury and recovery. “We expected to complete the shoot in 45-50 days,” Salman said. “We were supposed to come in January or June. But now we are finally coming on December 4.” The extra month sets up a clash with Eetha, according to Filmverse. Salman admitted he had feared it would never release, but said the soldiers’ story deserved to reach screens: “It’s a very beautiful story. It’s a noble film.”
