Akshay Kumar and Arshad Warsi’s film, Jolly LLB 3, is scheduled to release in theaters on September 19. However, just before its release, the film has run into a major problem. PVR-Inox suddenly halted advance ticket bookings for the film, causing ticket sales across the country to come to a standstill.
According to a report by Bollywood Hungama, PVR-Inox suspended advance ticket bookings for the film from the evening of September 17th. Except for a few select screens, ticket sales were put on hold at most PVR-Inox theaters across the country. The exact reason for this remains unclear. Initially, it was speculated that this was related to extended programming—meaning allowing the film to be shown on more screens and for a longer duration. However, PVR-Inox did not agree to this. Instead, it halted advance bookings for the film, which remained suspended until 9:00 AM on September 18th.
However, another reason seems to be emerging in the meantime. Some reports claim that this issue was related to VPF, or Virtual Print Fee. VPF is a temporary payment that film studios make to theaters. Previously, theaters used to project films using film reels, which was quite expensive. Now, films are distributed digitally, and theaters need to purchase new digital projectors to screen them. Since these projectors are expensive, studios pay a VPF to theaters to help offset the cost of the equipment, such as digital projectors and software, required for digital screenings.
Whatever the reason, neither the film’s production company, Star Studios 18, nor PVR-Inox has officially commented on the matter. However, an emergency meeting between the two parties did take place at 10:00 AM on September 18. Reports suggest that the issue was resolved during that meeting. Our investigation has confirmed that advance ticket bookings for the film are now open again on PVR-Inox. As of this writing, the film has sold tickets worth ₹1.75 crore for its opening day. These figures are disappointing for a successful franchise starring actors like Akshay Kumar, Arshad Warsi, and Saurabh Shukla. It has even fallen short of Akshay’s own film, ‘Kesari 2’, which released in 2025 and had advance bookings worth ₹1.84 crore for its opening day.
