A venture that generated sky-high expectations and excitement right from the moment it went on floors, Akshay Kumar’s Sooryavanshi is one of the most anticipated films announced to come out this year, but has now suffered a setback. The makers of the Rohit Shetty-directed Sooryvanshi have now opted out from releasing the film in theatres as initially planned on March 24 in light of the deadly coronavirus that has taken several lives across the world. With containment and preventive measures against corona being employed by governments all over the world, the ideal thing would be to not get many people under a single roof with the Sooryavanshi team now pushing back the film's release.

Taking to his social networking pages, Akshay Kumar spoke about the decision by Rohit Shetty Picturez to postpone Sooryavanshi to a later date saying, "Sooryavanshi is an experience that we have created for you with over a year of dedication and hard work, and the response we received for its trailer was nothing less than electrifying and made it clear that this film truly belongs to its audience... We have been as excited as you are to present the film to you and your family, but due to the recent outburst of the COVID — 19 (Coronavirus), we, the makers, have decided to postpone the release of your film Sooryavanshi, keeping in mind the health and safety of our beloved audience... And therefore, Sooryavanshi will be back for you just when the time is right... After all, safety comes first... Until then, keep the excitement alive, take good care of yourself and stay strong... We shall pull through this...". Check out Akshay Kumar's statement below:

Because our safety always, always comes first. Stay safe and take care of yourself 🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/CnNfMT6Kck

— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) March 12, 2020

Sooryavanshi is the fourth installment in the Rohit Shetty police universe, with the first three films being, the Ajay Devgn starrers Singham and Singham Returns and Ranveer Singh's Simmba. Apart from Akshay Kumar, Sooryavanshi will see Katrina Kaif as the female lead and Jackie Shroff as the antagonist with Ajay Devgn and Ranveer Singh reprising their roles from the previous Rohit Shetty police universe films. Produced by Dharma Productions and Cape of Good Films, in association with Rohit Shetty Picturez, Sooryavanshi is being released worldwide by Reliance Entertainment and features music by Tanishk Bagchi, Lijo George - DJ Chetas and JAM8.