Pawan Kalyan’s Ustaad Bhagat Singh confirms release on March 19 as Yash’s Toxic postponed: The Ugadi box office shake-up

Toxic, starring Yash and directed by Geetu Mohandas, had been one of the most anticipated releases of the year before its makers announced a postponement to June 4, 2026, citing the escalating conflict in the Middle East following the US-Israel strike on Iran. The Gulf region is a crucial overseas market for the film’s multilingual global rollout, and the growing instability disrupted cinema operations across several key territories, leaving the makers with little choice but to move the date.

The moment Toxic stepped back, the Ugadi window opened up. March 19 falls during the Ugadi and Ramzan festive corridor, one of the most commercially loaded periods in the Telugu film calendar. For a mass entertainer starring Pawan Kalyan, directed by Harish Shankar, it is close to an ideal release slot.

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The preponed date also reframes at least one other decision the Ustaad Bhagat Singh team made earlier this week. Mythri Movie Makers had announced that composer Thaman would step in to handle the film’s background score after the production house itself admitted to delaying the reel handover to DSP, leaving him without enough time to complete the background score alongside his existing commitments. The statement was unusually direct for a production house, placing the blame squarely on their own scheduling lapse rather than on DSP. “Due to our delay in finalising and sending reels for background score to DSP, we are unable to match his timeline,” they wrote, adding that DSP had made every effort to accommodate the request before his prior commitments made it impossible.

DSP, whose songs “Dekh Le Gey Saala” and “Aura of Ustaad” had already connected strongly with audiences, stays on the project for the music. The combination of DSP for songs and Thaman for the background score, the team has maintained, is a pairing that brings two stalwart musicians toward one shared goal.

The Ugadi slot is now Ustaad Bhagat Singh’s to own. The film marks the second collaboration between Pawan Kalyan and Harish Shankar after their 2012 blockbuster Gabbar Singh, with Sreeleela and Raashii Khanna in the lead roles alongside a supporting cast that includes Parthiban and Ashutosh Rana. A pre-release event is planned for March 18, with premiere shows expected the same night.