Ananth Mahadevan’s biopic Phule, based on the life of Jyotirao Phule and his wife Savitri which was to be released this Friday, has been pushed ahead to the end of the month, to 25 April. Confirming this change of plan, the producer Ritesh Kudecha says,  “Yes, the film has been postponed to 28 April. We took the decision this morning.”

All eyes are now on the Sunny Deol starred in Jaat and Gippy Grewal’s Akaal: The Unconquered, both of which open on Thursday, 10 April.

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For Gippy Garewal’s Akaal, Karan Johar ties up with  Gippy to co-produce an action epic which stresses valour and nationalism. While the film is bound to whip up a rage in Punjab, it has a certain zest and energy to it which will make it appealing to audiences outside Punjab. Gippy has not so far conquered the territory outside Punjab. With Akaal, he will.

As for Sunny Deol’s Southern sojourn, Jaat is already pre-sold to his audience which expects Deol to do a Gadar again, but with stylised action pieces. While Sunny excels in the role of a justice broker, he has solid unquestionably crowd-pleasing support from Vineet Kumar Singh and Randeep Hooda.

Vineet of course is riding an all-time high after Chhaava, the makers have added him with Urvashi Rautela in an item song as a token of his Chhaava success. Hooda is in the mood to reverse sides, from the nobility of Veer Savarkar to the mobility of the snarling villain Varadaraja Ranatunga in Jaat.

But make no mistake: Jaat is as much a one-man show as Akaal. Sunny and Gippy…may the best Punjabi win.