‘Love & War’ update: Sanjay Leela Bhansali extends shoot to May 2026; budget rises for Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, and Vicky Kaushal’s epic, targets August or September release

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's next film, ‘Love & War’, has a big casting of Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, and Vicky Kaushal together for the first time. Shooting started in November 2024 for a December 2025 release. However, it has faced repeated delays over the years.The makers had planned an Eid 2026 release, but it seems they will miss the March date as well. Now, a new update about the shoot of the film has surfaced. Reportedly, Bhansali extended the ‘Love & War’ shooting to May 2026. According to Bollywood Hungama, Ranbir, Alia, and Vicky have blocked their calendars till May 2026. All their prior commitments stand delayed due to the increase in shoot days for SLB's magnum opus.Earlier, it was reported by the same publication that Ranbir had requested SLB to release ‘Love & War’ in the month of June 2026, but the same stands invalid now. There's no way for ‘Love & War’ to release in the said month. Bhansali is now making an attempt to bring it to the big screen in August or September 2026. A date will be decided shortly. This has left some of the members of the ‘Ramayana’ team disappointed, as they were hoping for a gap of at least 6 months between ‘Love & War’ and ‘Ramayana’. The delay in shoots has also resulted in an increase of budgets for ‘Love & War’.Buzz indicates that the official release date of ‘Love & War’ will be announced in January, alongside the first looks of all the actors.Apart from Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s historical drama ‘Love & War’, Ranbir Kapoor will also star in Nitesh Tiwari’s epic mythological film ‘Ramayana: Part 1’, where he plays Lord Ram. The film is expected to release in theaters in Diwali 2026.