Image Credit: Salman Khan Films — Official Teaser/Poster via YouTube
The Apoorva Lakhia paragliding accident became the most talked-about moment of the Maatrubhumi trailer launch, even on a night that belonged to Salman Khan. The director walked into the Mumbai event with an L-shaped walking stick and a noticeable limp, and by the end of the evening, he had told the room exactly what had happened to him.
Nobody at the launch had expected the injury to become the story. The event was meant to be about the trailer of Maatrubhumi: May War Rest in Peace, Salman Khan’s long-delayed war drama, and its new release date. But the moment Apoorva Lakhia arrived leaning on his stick, every camera in the room turned towards him, and the questions started before the trailer had even played.
Here are the five most shocking details from the Apoorva Lakhia paragliding accident revelation, and everything else that came out of the Maatrubhumi trailer launch on 6 November 2026.
The Walking Stick That Stole the Show at the Maatrubhumi Trailer Launch
The Maatrubhumi trailer launch was held at a multiplex in Mumbai on Friday, 6 November 2026, with Salman Khan, Chitrangda Singh and the full team of the film in attendance. Yet the first thing people noticed was not the star or the trailer. It was the director’s walking stick.
Apoorva Lakhia arrived with an L-shaped walking stick and walked with a clear limp, leaving everyone at the event curious about the reason behind his injury. The host did not waste time either. After the first round of questions about the film, he asked Lakhia directly why he was using a walking stick and what had happened to his leg. That one question opened the most honest moment of the entire launch.
The answer stunned the room. Lakhia had not twisted an ankle on a set or slipped at home. He had been hurt in the air, and he had been carrying the injury for nearly two months before anyone outside his close circle knew about it.
“Dinosaurs in Your Stomach”: Apoorva Lakhia on Directing Salman Khan
Before the injury question came up, the host asked Apoorva Lakhia whether he had butterflies in his stomach ahead of the trailer launch. His reply brought the biggest laugh of the evening. The Apoorva Lakhia paragliding accident had not come up yet, and nobody in the room knew the director was still recovering.
“When you have Mr Salman Khan in your film, there are no butterflies. There are dinosaurs in your stomach! That itself is pressure. But I hope everyone enjoys it. It’s a kind of role and character that sir has not played before. That would be interesting for everyone to watch.”
The line said a lot about the film itself. Salman Khan plays an Indian Army officer inspired by Colonel Bikumalla Santosh Babu, who led Indian soldiers in the June 2020 Galwan Valley clash. It is a restrained, uniformed role, very different from the larger-than-life action hero the superstar is known for, and Lakhia clearly knows the pressure that comes with it.
Salman himself used the launch to clear up one big misunderstanding about the film. He said Maatrubhumi is not a biopic. It is an inspired narrative about human conflict and war, built around the Galwan clash, and its message is about the futility of war rather than a retelling of one man’s life.
Starting from Zero, Every Single Time
Apoorva Lakhia also spoke honestly about how hard it has been to get his films made. The Maatrubhumi trailer launch came after months of delays, censor hurdles and changing release dates, and the director did not pretend the journey had been easy.
“For me, I always have to start from zero. I don’t know about others, but everyone has their own struggles, and I think that is the challenge of life. So, if there’s no struggle, there’s no fun. It inspires you to do as well as your peers and try to entertain and make a good film. That’s always been my priority.”
It was a fitting line for this film. Maatrubhumi was first announced as Battle of Galwan, then retitled, then pushed from April 2026 to August, and then again while the trailer waited for censor clearance. The trailer finally received a U/A 16+ certificate from the Central Board of Film Certification on 4 November 2026, and the launch event followed two days later. The Apoorva Lakhia paragliding accident made that long wait even harder, with the director recovering in plaster while the trailer waited for clearance.
The Apoorva Lakhia Paragliding Accident: Broken in Two Places, Seven Weeks in Plaster
Then came the revelation everyone at the launch had been waiting for. When the host asked about the walking stick, Apoorva Lakhia explained the Apoorva Lakhia paragliding accident in his own words.
“I had a bad landing while I was paragliding. I am ‘broken’ (suffered injury) in two places. The plaster came out yesterday after seven weeks.”
Seven weeks in plaster is a long time to keep an injury quiet, and the timing makes the story even more remarkable. The plaster had come out only the day before the launch, which means Lakhia attended the biggest night of his film’s campaign still limping, still leaning on a stick, and still smiling through it. He was injured in two places, yet he showed up, faced the cameras, and spoke about the film as if nothing had happened.
The Apoorva Lakhia paragliding accident also explains why the director looked so careful on his feet at the event. A bad landing while paragliding can easily break bones, and recovering from two fractures takes weeks of rest. Lakhia clearly chose to keep working through it instead, pushing the film towards its release while his own recovery was still going on.
For fans, the detail adds a human side to a film that has been surrounded by big numbers and bigger arguments. Behind the 4-minute-43-second trailer, the censor clearance and the release-date changes, there was a director walking into his own trailer launch on a stick, seven weeks after a fall from the sky.
Who Attended the Mumbai Trailer Launch
The launch was a full team affair. Salman Khan and Chitrangda Singh led the cast, joined by Ankur Bhatia, Heera Sohal, Dayashankar Pandey, Jason Tham, Abhilash Chaudhary, Vipin Bhardwaj, Samar Gill, Tenzin Bodh, Tanya Desai, Zeyn Shaw and Abhishrri Sen. Music director duo Meet Bros, lyricist Shahid Mir and co-writer Chintan Shah were also present. Lakhia himself attended despite the Apoorva Lakhia paragliding accident, still leaning on his walking stick through the evening.
Two of the youngest faces at the event were Azai Ahluwalia and Ivarr Ahluwalia, the sons of Shabbir Ahluwalia and Kanchi Kaul, who make their debut in the film as child artists. Their presence was a reminder that Maatrubhumi is not only a war film. It is also a family story, with Salman Khan playing a husband and a father as well as a soldier.
Salman used the event to share several other updates about the film. He announced that viewers above the age of 75 will be able to watch Maatrubhumi for just Rs 11, and he thanked the Censor Board and government ministries for passing the film without any cuts. He also revealed that he had once feared the film would never be released at all, which makes the December date feel like a small victory for the whole team.
Maatrubhumi: The Film, the Story and the December 4 Release Date
Maatrubhumi: May War Rest in Peace is directed by Apoorva Lakhia and produced by Salman Khan Films. It stars Salman Khan as an Army officer inspired by Colonel Bikumalla Santosh Babu, with Chitrangda Singh as the female lead. The film is based on the 2020 Galwan Valley clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers, and it draws on Shiv Aroor’s book India’s Most Fearless.
The release date has changed more than once. The trailer launch event first flashed 20 November 2026 on screen, but Salman Khan confirmed at the same event that the film will now release in cinemas on 4 December 2026. That sets up a direct box-office clash with Shraddha Kapoor’s Eetha, which also releases on 4 December.
The trailer itself is unusually long. At 4 minutes and 43 seconds, it is among the longest trailers in Indian cinema, and it was cleared by the censor board with a U/A 16+ certificate. The first teaser of the film had released on 27 December 2025, on Salman Khan’s birthday, and the full trailer finally arrived at the Mumbai launch on 6 November 2026. The Apoorva Lakhia paragliding accident was the other big talking point of that launch night.
Music for the film is by Himesh Reshammiya. The song Maatrubhumi, sung by Arijit Singh and Shreya Ghoshal, has already been released, along with the track Teri Sexy Beauty, which Salman explained plays at a moment when soldiers praise their wives.
Watch the Official Maatrubhumi Teaser
Watch the official teaser from Salman Khan Films below:
The teaser gives the first real look at the scale of the film, with Salman Khan as the battle-worn officer at the centre of the Galwan story. The full trailer, unveiled at the launch event, runs 4 minutes and 43 seconds and will be the version audiences see in cinemas from 4 December 2026.
FAQs
What happened to Apoorva Lakhia?
The Apoorva Lakhia paragliding accident happened after a bad landing while he was paragliding. He was injured, or “broken”, in two places and spent seven weeks in plaster. He revealed the injury at the Maatrubhumi trailer launch in Mumbai on 6 November 2026, arriving with an L-shaped walking stick and a noticeable limp.
When did the Apoorva Lakhia paragliding accident happen?
Lakhia did not give an exact date for the accident, but he said at the launch that his plaster had come out the day before, after seven weeks. That puts the Apoorva Lakhia paragliding accident around the middle of September 2026, roughly seven weeks before the 6 November trailer launch.
What is Maatrubhumi about?
Maatrubhumi: May War Rest in Peace is a war drama based on the June 2020 Galwan Valley clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers. Salman Khan plays an Army officer inspired by Colonel Bikumalla Santosh Babu, and Chitrangda Singh plays the female lead. Salman Khan has clarified that the film is not a biopic, but an inspired story about human conflict and the futility of war.
When does Maatrubhumi release in cinemas?
Maatrubhumi releases in cinemas on 4 December 2026. The date was confirmed by Salman Khan at the trailer launch event in Mumbai on 6 November 2026. It will clash at the box office with Shraddha Kapoor’s Eetha, which releases on the same day.
How long is the Maatrubhumi trailer?
The Maatrubhumi trailer runs 4 minutes and 43 seconds, making it one of the longest trailers in Indian cinema. It was cleared by the Central Board of Film Certification with a U/A 16+ certificate on 4 November 2026.
The Apoorva Lakhia paragliding accident is the kind of story that tells you everything about the man behind Maatrubhumi. Seven weeks in plaster, two fractures, and he still walked into his film’s trailer launch on a stick and talked about dinosaurs in his stomach. The film reaches cinemas on 4 December 2026, and after everything its director went through to get it there, it will be worth watching.
Image Credit: Salman Khan Films — Official Teaser/Poster via YouTube
