NTR’s Dragon, directed by Prashanth Neel, is the first film to be announced for the 2026 Sankranthi festival release, and 9th January was locked as the release date. The film’s shoot did not start as per plans, and now it is certain that NTR’s Dragon will not be released on Sankranthi or early summer.
NTR – Neel’s Dragon moved from Sankranthi 2026
As said above, the NTR—Neel movie arrived on set late. At first, the team announced it would go on sets in October 2024, but the 1st schedule began in February 2025 last week in Hyderabad. NTR will join the Dragon sets in April.
Due to a delay in shooting, NTR’s Dragon will not be released on Sankranthi or early summer. It clearly opts out of the Sankranthi race. Megastar Chiranjeevi and Ravipudi’s film was announced for Sankranthi 2026.
Huge Competition for Sankranthi 2026
Also, Raviteja’s film is also arriving during the same season, while from Kollywood, Vijay’s Jana Nayagan has also been announced for a Sankranthi/Pongal release along with Sivakarthikeyan’s Parasakthi. A few more Telugu films will also be joining the Sankranthi race.
After Sankranthi, summer is the best release date for Dragon, and it was also said that the team is planning to release the film for summer. However, even the early summer release will also not be an option for the film, as the same production house, Mythri, and Ram Charan’s Peddi are planning for a 26th March release.
Nani’s The Paradise was also announced for the same date. Peddi is also a pan-Indian film. So, definitely, they want a 3–4-week gap between the two biggies. So NTR—Neel’s Dragon is likely to target the April end or May release.