Ekta Kapoor in race to beat SRK

Snowfall delays Vikramaditya Motwane’s Lootera schedule, producer Ekta Kapoor issues diktat to ensure the film releases before Yash Chopra’s directorial return which belongs to the same genre.

A few days ago, heavy snowfall in Dalhousie led to the cancellation of a month-long schedule of Vikramaditya Motwane’s Lootera. And soon enough, it led to speculation about a possible delay in the release of the Ranveer Singh-Sonakshi Sinha starrer. But insiders from the film, produced by Balaji and Phantom Productions, reveal that Ekta Kapoor has now given a strict diktat to the production and direction team to release the film on October 26 at any cost.

Apparently, Lootera is a bit similar — in terms of its theme and even content — to Yash Chopra’s untitled directorial venture, starring Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma. And that’s why the producer wants her film to release first to exploit the novelty factor at the ticket windows.

A unit member from the team reveals, “Lootera and Yashji’s film are not absolutely similar. But when it comes to nuances in terms of treatment and scripting details, you will find some parallels. So, Ekta wants to beat the film in the race to hit the box-office. She wants to have the first-mover advantage and release much before Yashji’s next, which comes out on Diwali.”

While Vikramaditya’s directorial venture is touted to be a classic love story, set in the ’50s, there’s no information about the storyline of Chopra’s film. At the time of announcing his film, though, the veteran director had stated thus: “(Mine is) a film which has an old soul but a young heart. A film that is classic in its look but contemporary in its language.”

The Lootera team is confident that Chopra’s film is also a classic romantic tale. It’s believed that there has even been some filtration of information between the two units. Ekta, on her part, remained unavailable for comment, but her team members say they are working hard to make their film the first classic love story of 2012.

Tanuj Garg, CEO of Balaji Motion Pictures, contends only as much: “Yes, we are working hard to release Lootera on October 26 and the entire team is working with that date in mind. It will ensure that we come out with the first out-and-out love story of the year. We at Balaji feel there are only two sweeping love stories releasing this year – Lootera and Yashji’s next. We are not considering rom-coms in the list.”

The Shah Rukh Khan-starrer, meanwhile, is currently being shot at the Yash Raj Studios in Andheri.