Diwali is a festive moment, on the streets – with ear-splitting firecrackers, and those opposing the fireworks pouting indoors- and also in the cinemas. It became the date when Yash Chopra preferred releasing his films from Lamhe in 1991, Veer Zaara in 2005, and his last film Jab Tak Hai Jaan in 2012. It was also used as a viable release date by the superstars- Aamir Khan released Thugs Of Hindostan, Shah Rukh Khan released Ra One, Happy New Year, Salman Khan released Prem Ratan Shan Payo, and Ajay Devgn released Shivaay.
This year, given the circumstances, the theaters won't be buzzing, but the streaming platforms have more than made-up for this lacunae. Here is a list of all films, across regions, streaming.
Streaming Platform: Netflix
Release Date: November 4
Samyukt (Keerthy Suresh) is determined to become a self-made success. To do this, she plans to sell Indian Chai overseas, fighting adversaries, and her own conservative family.
Streaming Platform: Disney+Hotstar
Release Date: November 9
Based on the 2011 Tamil horror-comedy Kanchana, this films is about lovers Asif (Akshay Kumar) and Priya (Kiara Advani), and how Asif gets possessed by a transgender ghost.
Streaming Platform: Netflix
Release Date: November 12
A dark comedy crime drama from Anurag Basu, this is an anthology Life In A … Metro style with intersecting lives and stories. It has an ensemble cast of Abhishek Bachchan, Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, Aditya Roy Kapur, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra, Rohit Suresh Saraf, Pearle Maaney and Inayat Verma.
Streaming Platform: Amazon Prime Video
Release Date: November 12
Inspired by Air Deccan's founder GR Gopinath's autobiography Simply Fly, this film is about Nedumaaran Rajangam's (Suriya) impossible dream to sell flight tickets for just Rs 1 per person.
Streaming Platform: Amazon Prime
Release Date: November 13
Manjit "Montu" Hooda (Rajkummar Rao), a happy go lucky PT teacher, attracted to a computer teacher Neelima "Neelu" Mehra (Nushrat Bharucha), is now faced with competition from the new PT teacher Akash Singh (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub). Produced by Luv Ranjan and Ajay Devgn, this is directed by Hansal Mehta fresh off the success of Scam 1992.
Streaming Platform: Aha Video
Release Date: November 13
Siddhu Jonnalagadda and Seerat Kapoor after the successful Krishna And His Leela streaming on Netflix are back for this rom-com entertainer.
Streaming Platform: TBA
Release Date: November 13
Set in the 1990s, this film is a satirical comedy starring Manoj Bajpayee, Diljit Dosanjh and Fatima Sana Shaikh in the lead roles. While Bajpayeee plays a wedding detective, Dosanjh plays a potential groom.
While the film currently is expected to release in theaters, given that it is Zee Studios' in-house production, it is possible like Khaali Peeli this film also finds a parallel release on Zee Plex.
Streaming Platform: Disney+Hotstar
Release Date: November 14
This is a Hindu devotional comedy film with Nayanthara as Amman. Directed by RJ Balaji and N. J. Saravanan, Balaji also stars as the male lead in this film.