32-Year-Old Mohra Skips Multiplexes, Avoids Ramayana Clash

Akshay Kumar’s 1994 action thriller Mohra is heading back to theatres on November 6, but this is not the usual multiplex nostalgia run. Director Rajiv Rai has framed the re-release as a deliberately small, single-screen exercise that will sidestep a clash with Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana and may not even reach Mumbai.

The move is a reminder that re-releases are not one-size-fits-all. Rather than chasing premium metro demand, the 32-year-old film is leaning into the old single-screen circuit, where the economics are different and the audience is looking for something closer to the original 1994 experience.

A date that avoids a face-off

Ramayana opens on November 5. Mohra lands the next day. In a conversation with Bollywood Hungama, Rai said the timing is not about competing with the Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi and Yash epic. “I’m not coming against Ramayana,” he said, explaining that the Diwali period has freed up smaller centres and that Ramayana cannot book every cinema in the country.

That is the core of the plan: select single-screen theatres, mostly outside the major metros. Rai added that Mumbai may not even have a cinema for Mohra, which rules out a direct box-office showdown in the city.

Why PVR INOX is out

The director was equally clear about multiplex economics. Steep ticket prices and the Virtual Print Fee charged by cinema chains make an old title hard to justify commercially. His view is that these films have been watched repeatedly and the re-release business is negligible.

Instead, the strategy looks like a travelling engagement. Rai said Mohra will tour different centres across India over roughly six months. His latest film Zora, which returned to theatres on October 23, may follow a similar route, and other older titles could return the same way.

For fans, the search is local

If you want to catch Mohra on the big screen, look beyond the usual multiplex apps. The re-release will play where single screens are available:

• Check local single-screen listings after November 6; Mumbai may not be on the tour.
• Don’t expect a PVR INOX run — the maker has explicitly ruled that out.
• Treat this as a limited engagement, not a full-scale re-release.

The original film, directed by Rajiv Rai and produced by Gulshan Rai, stars Akshay Kumar, Raveena Tandon, Suniel Shetty and Naseeruddin Shah. Its story follows Vishal Agnihotri, a prisoner drawn into a businessman’s plan for vengeance after a journalist secures his release.

Source: India Today