Farhan Akhtar impressed one and all as he launched the trailer of his upcoming sports drama Toofaan on Wednesday. The film, which was supposed to release in theatres in 2020, had to take a backseat and wait for the cinema halls to reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, with the second wave hitting Indian in April 2021, the makers of the film decided to release it on Amazon Prime Video. While several big-budget films are taking the web route amidst the pandemic, Farhan feels 'thankful and grateful' to have gotten the opportunity of a digital release through Amazon Prime Video.
The actor said, "Well, I don’t really look at it like that. What we want as actors or directors or as artists is for as many people to watch our film. That is what gives us satisfaction. So, given where we are, given the situation that we’re in, to me, this is an amazing way to release the film. We’re going to be releasing it in over 200 counties and territories. The film is being promoted in all these places like we won’t have been able to do that if we were coming just purely on theatrical."
He further added, "So, there’s a huge awareness of the film and that’s really what you want. You want people to see the film and enjoy the story for what it is. And ya, that’s really what I’ve focused on. If times were different, then obviously the film would be in a theatre but these are not those times. And I’m really thankful that we’ve Amazon as not just the partner on this film but as somebody who really believes in this movie. They are going out of their way to really promote the film. So, I’m really thankful and grateful for that."
Produced by Ritesh Sidhwani, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Farhan Akhtar, Toofaan is directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra starring Farhan Akhtar, alongside Mrunal Thakur and Paresh Rawal in prominent roles. The film will release on Amazon Prime Video on July 16.