No direct-to-OTT release for Maatrubhumi; Salman Khan determined to bring his film to cinemas

On Saturday, April 11, source reported that, based on instructions from the Ministry of Defence, China will not be named in the Salman Khan film Maatrubhumi. The news spread quickly and became a hot topic in Bollywood as well as on the national stage. At the same time, rumors started floating around that the movie might not be shown in theaters and that the team was thinking of releasing it directly on an OTT platform. However, Bollywood Hungama has now confirmed that these rumors are not true.

A source told, "Salman continues to be a big star and he has made Maatrubhumi on a grand scale.

 It's a film meant for the big screen, so he and director Apoorva Lakhia are determined to show it in theaters once the issues with the film are sorted out."

An industry insider said, "Some people wrongly believe that there's no censorship on OTT platforms.

 Because of that, they think Salman Khan can just skip the theatrical release and put the movie on OTT without any trouble. But that's not correct. Every film that comes directly to streaming services also has to go through a certification process, just like any movie shown in theaters. So even for a direct-to-OTT launch, the government must approve the film before it's shown to the public."

On April 11, source quoted a source who said, "Earlier, the film was based on a real event.

 But based on the request from the Ministry of Defence, Salman Khan and director Apoorva Lakhia reshooted parts of the movie by adding a fictional twist. Because of this, around 40% of the film was reshot as they added some romantic scenes and backstory. The makers submitted the new version, hoping to get the necessary approval. However, the Ministry is still cautious."

The source added, "One of the requests to Salman Khan was that the film should not mention China.

 This was communicated to the makers beforehand. The version of Maatrubhumi that was submitted earlier this month does not mention China at all." The source also said that only the core team of Maatrubhumi knows how the neighboring country is depicted or mentioned without actually naming it.