Dinesh Vijan’s Maddock Horror-Comedy Universe (MHCU) has now hit its first major speed bump, thanks to Kiara Advani’s highly publicized film Shakti Shalini, which has been delayed for a year due to her pregnancy.
Kiara is currently pregnant and planning to get back to work around mid-2025, which leaves the producers no option but to delay the film’s production and eventual release. While there has been chatter of replacing Kiara in the role, producers have reiterated their commitment to her in the lead role.
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The delay has sent shockwaves throughout the MHCU’s ambitious slate of eight interconnected films, originally planned to be released through 2028. Unfortunately for everyone involved, Kiara’s ‘Shakti Shalini’ will not be on the calendar for 2025, and the only film planned for release this year for Maddock is ‘Thama a vampire comedy starring Ayushmann Khurrana, Rashmika Mandanna, and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.
Other films, like ‘Bhediya 2’ and ‘Chamunda’, will inevitably be delayed further due to each of the productions and VFX schedule changes that must also be dealt with, making the original timeline even less realistic,, and it may now be extending out to 2030.
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In the meantime, Kiara is still scheduled for several motion pictures: she has almost completely shot ‘War 2’ and Yash’s ‘Toxic’ (new date: March 19, 2026).
She will also no longer be a part of Farhan Akhtar’s ‘Don 3’ because of her pregnancy. Maddock’s writing team is currently reworking the narrative arc of the universe to adjust to these big changes.
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