A major box office clash has officially been averted. Allu Arjun's highly anticipated Pushpa 2: The Rule will now enjoy a solo release across India as Vicky Kaushal’s Chhaava has been pulled from the December 6 release. 

Although the new release date for Chhaava hasn't been announced yet, producer Dinesh Vijan and director Laxman Utekar are contemplating two release dates for the historical epic. Peepingmoon.com has exclusively learned that the makers are weighing either December 20 or January 10 for its release. They are still evaluating which date makes the most sense and are likely to take the final call within the next ten days. 

If Chhaava arrives on December 20, it will face competition from Hollywood's Mufasa: The Lion King in theatres. Though the photorealistic animated movie is not a serious threat, it could nonetheless surprise at the box office given the strong performance of its predecessor, The Lion King (2019), which earned an incredible 188 crore in India. Furthermore, Varun Dhawan’s action entertainer Baby John releases on December 25, increasing the competition just five days later and further diluting Chhaava’s box office potential. 

The Sankranti weekend release for Chhaava, meanwhile, will see the Vicky Kaushal film sharing theatres with Ram Charan’s and S. Shankar’s Game Changer. The pan-India Telugu political action drama is finally releasing on January 10 after multiple delays. However, this film is not expected to pose a competitive threat as it has little interest among Hindi audiences, making Chhaava’s release somewhat non-competitive, as required for such a high-budget production. 

While the final release date is yet to be locked, sources are stressing that Chhaava will more likely open on January 10, as Maddock Films already has that date reserved for their other production, Ekkis. With the Sriram Raghavan-directed biopic starring Agastya Nanda and Dharmendra not ready for release on January 10, Dinesh Vijan wants to utilize that date for Chhaava. It's a lucrative date as the film will not only enjoy a wide release but will also face no competition until Vijan’s own production, Sky Force, starring Akshay Kumar, releases on the Republic Day weekend on January 24, 2025. 

Chhaava is a historical epic based on the life of Maratha king Chhatrapathi Sambhaji Maharaj. Vicky Kaushal plays the titular character in this Laxman Utekar directorial, adapted from Shivaji Sawant’s Marathi novel of the same name. Rashmika Mandanna, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Ashutosh Rana, and Divya Dutta also play the pivotal parts, while the Oscar Award-winning composer A.R. Rahman scores the music.