Emraan Hashmi’s Awarapan 2 release has been pushed to May-June, producer Mukesh Bhatt has said. The possible box office clash with Dhurandhar 2 and Toxic did not prompt the decision, he clarified.

Media reports had suggested that Awarapan 2 would not release on its planned April 3 date to avoid clash with Dhurandhar Part 2 and Yash’s Toxic, which arrive in theatres on March 19.

Bhatt noted that the film’s release has been pushed to May or June because Emraan Hashmi suffered an injury on set and underwent surgery.

“The release date of Awarapan 2 has been shifted to either in May or June because while shooting for the film, Emraan Hashmi met with an accident and he had to go through the surgery,” Bhatt told PTI.

“As a result, he isn’t allowed to do action for 45 days. So, all the action sequences will be performed later. I’m not scared of Dhurandhar 2 and Toxic,” Bhatt added.

Directed by Mohit Suri, Awarapan also starred Shriya Saran, Mrinalini Sharma and Ashish Vidyarthi. It was produced by Mukesh Bhatt and emerged as a cult hit despite being a commercial failure when it was released back in 2007.

Hashmi had first announced the sequel, directed by Nitin Kakkar, in March. In a teaser video, his character was seen travelling by boat at sunset, releasing pigeons from a cage, in a throwback to a scene from the original film. The background score featured the song Tera Mera Rishta from the 2007 film.

“One final 20-day schedule of Awarapan 2 is planned for March in Malaysia”, Bhatt further said.

Hashmi will be next seen in Neeraj Pandey’s Netflix thriller series Taskaree: The Smugglers Web, set to premiere on January 14.