India, Oct. 19 -- Diwali is arguably the biggest day of the year for India, and the country's biggest festival for sure. For decades, that has meant that the biggest film stars of the country bring out their biggest films on this day as well. For years, Shah Rukh Khan monopolised the date in the north, while Rajinikanth - and later Vijay - did the same down south. But since the pandemic, theatres have missed their biggest sutli bombs on Diwali - the big-name stars. This year marks the first time no tier 1 star has a release on Diwali in any language, and it is just the culmination of a trend that started some time back.

The focus on Diwali as a festive release date is a phenomenon in the two biggest film industries of the country - Hindi...