Kajol's Helicopter Eela to now release on 12 October; delay owing to director Pradeep Sarkar's ill health

Helicopter Eela, featuring Kajol and Riddhi Sen, will now release on 12 October instead of its earlier date of 7 September. Pradeep Sarkar, director of the film was inflicted by dengue for which he had to be hospitalised.

Ajay Devgn, producer of Helicopter Eela, thus decided to wait for Sarkar's full recovery before resuming post-production work. The news was confirmed by leading film trade analyst Taran Adarsh through his official Twitter handle.

New release date for #HelicopterEela: 12 Oct 2018... Since director Pradeep Sarkar is diagnosed with dengue, Ajay Devgn has taken a decision to resume work on the film after Sarkar is discharged from hospital... Ajay Devgn and Jayantilal Gada have now shifted the film to 12 Oct.

— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) August 24, 2018

Poster for Helicopter Eela/Image from Twitter.

The director had apparently even taken a special permission from the hospital to shoot the portions with Amitabh Bachchan's cameo. Sarkar was diagnosed with dengue a few days prior to the shoot of the cameo but since Bachchan had already given 14 August as the date for the shoot, the director left the hospital mid-way his treatment. Devgn had ensured that there were provisions of an ambulance at stand-by along with a doctor at the Andheri studio premises, which was the location for the shoot. Also, since Devgn could not be in town for the day, wife Kajol was on set to ensure that the shooting schedule ran smoothly and Sarkar got exactly what he required. Pradeep still had the IV drip needle inserted while he was completing Bachchan's shoot. After the shoot, he returned to the hospital. The director was discharged on 23 August, and has now been advised a week's rest, says DNA.