The makers of Rana Daggubati’s Haathi Mere Saathi, the Hindi version of his upcoming multi-lingual action-drama, on Tuesday announced the film’s big screen release has been put on hold due to rising COVID-19 cases in the country.

Haathi Mere Saathi was supposed to arrive in theatres on March 26 along with Tamil and Telugu versions, Kaadan and Aranya, respectively. The film’s producer Eros International issued an official statement, saying, the team is deferring the release given the “COVID-19 situation in Hindi markets.”

“Dear viewers, It pains us to share this news but given the Covid-19 situation in the Hindi markets, the team of Haathi Mere Saathi has decided to hold on to the release of the film. We shall keep you posted on further developments. However, we will be releasing Aranya and Kaadan in the South markets on the 26th of March,” read Eros International’s statement addressed to the audience.

Besides Rana Daggubati, who stars in all three versions, Haathi Mere Saathi features Pulkit Samrat, Shriya Pilgaonkar and Zoya Hussain. The film has been directed by Prabhu Solomon. The film has had quite a journey as the three versions were initially supposed to arrive in theatres last year in April but the release was postponed due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown that forced theatres across the country to shut down. Later in October 2020, it was announced that the film would release in January 2021. Finally on January 6, Rana Daggubati and the makers shared that Aranya, Haathi Mere Saathi and Kaadan would release in theatres on March 26.