Ajay Devgn – Sidharth Malhotra – Rakul Preet Singh starrer Thank God to be a RARE release which would be released on Tuesday

By Fenil Seta -

September 8, 2022 - 5:09 PM IST

On Thursday, September 8, it was announced that the Diwali release, Thank God, is all set to be released on October 25. Surprisingly, this date falls on a Tuesday and many had expected the Ajay Devgn-Sidharth Malhotra-Rakul Preet Singh starrer to be released on Friday, October 21.

Ajay Devgn – Sidharth Malhotra – Rakul Preet Singh starrer Thank God to be a RARE release which would be released on Tuesday

While several films have been released on Wednesday and Thursday, a Tuesday release is extremely rare. The last time it happened was in 2012, that too for an Ajay Devgn film, coincidentally. His comic caper, Son Of Sardaar, had arrived in cinemas on Tuesday, November 13 and had clashed with Shah Rukh Khan's Jab Tak Hai Jaan. What's more, both these films were also Diwali releases!

At that time, Son Of Sardaar and Jab Tak Hai Jaan had released on the day of Diwali. Soon, this trend of releasing a film on the Festival of Light died down. Instead, the makers would release the film a day after Diwali, which is a holiday. The logic behind this move is that footfalls are generally less on Diwali day, as many are busy with Laxmi Puja.

An industry expert told Bollywood Hungama, "The filmmakers feared that if their film gets bad word of mouth on Diwali, it will prevent audiences from coming in full force the next day. Hence, it was decided to release the films on post Diwali day."

In the last ten years, Diwali releases like Happy New Year (2014), Prem Ratan Dhan Paayo (2015), Golmaal Again (2017), Thugs Of Hindostan (2018) and Sooryavanshi (2021) were released a day after the festival.

An arrangement of this sort was not possible in 2016 and 2019 as Diwali fell on Sunday. As a result, the Diwali releases in these years released 4 days before post-Diwali holiday. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Shivaay were released on October 28, 2016 while Diwali was on Sunday, October 30. Housefull 3, Made In China and Saand Ki Aankh hit theatres on Friday, October 25, 2019 though Diwali fell on Sunday, October 27.

The industry expert revealed, "Just like the Diwali day, even the pre-Diwali days are not ideal for film business. It's the time when people are busy with shopping, house cleaning or visiting their families in their hometowns. As a result, the collections of the 2016 and 2019 Diwali releases were not significant for the first three days. Housefull 3, in fact, faced lot of brickbats and a narrative was floated that it has not worked. The increase in collections on post Diwali day silenced one and all."

Even Hrithik Roshan's Krrish 3 faced a tough time for the first three days. The 2013 Diwali release's collections were decent in the opening weekend and went on another level only from day 4.

The expert continued, "Hence, it makes sense for a big film like Thank God to release on a Tuesday. Had it been released on a Friday, it would have faced four days of limited collections since Diwali this year falls on a Monday."

It now remains to be seen if the other Diwali release, Akshay Kumar's Ram Setu, also releases on Tuesday, October 25, or does it opt for a traditional Friday release on October 21.

Also Read: Ajay Devgn and Sidharth Malhotra increase curiosity in these posters of Thank God