Exams fever grips Bollywood: Race to hit theatres before March 2015

From Amitabh Bachchan-Deepika Padukone-starrer Piku to Sushant Singh Rajput's Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, over half-a-dozen big-ticket films are scheduled to release in February 2015 as the makers want to avoid clashing with school examinations in March and the Cricket World Cup.

The year hasn’t even come to an end, and Bollywood film-makers are already rushing to get their films ready for release in the second month of 2015. The makers of over eight movies want to ensure their productions hit the big screens in February next year in order to avoid clashing with the examination period that starts around March.

With the Cricket World Cup also set to start from February 14, the makers have another reason to hurry. However, since the quarter finals don’t begin until March 14 (that’s when the viewership shoots up), they plan on using February to their advantage.
Some of the big-budget films queued up for release in February 2015 include the Varun Dhawan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer Badlapur, Amitabh Bachchan’s Shamitabh, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy featuring Sushant Singh Rajput, and the Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Roy.

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Sushant Singh Rajput in a still from Dibakar Banerjee's Detective Byomkesh Bakshy



However, one inevitable disadvantage they will all face is crowding of the films at the box office. "I don’t know who will stay or move, but we are surely coming in February. Also, I can’t help it if business gets affected because we had announced our date way back. Plus, it’s not intelligent to clash with the Cricket World Cup or the exam season," says Bhushan Kumar, producer of Roy.



Another young actor, whose film will also release in February, rues the situation too, but says that the options for everyone involved are limited. "There are just too many films packed in a month. Ideally, I wouldn’t like my film to clash with any other, but since the exam seasons will kick off in March, we can’t even move the release ahead. The next slot is the summer vacation period, which will be too late," says the actor, on the condition of anonymity.



Other films that will also release around the same time are the Sonam Kapoor-starrer Dolly Ki Doli, John Abraham’s Rocky Handsome, Sunny Leone’s Mastizaade, and the Rishi Kapoor-starrer Patel Ki Punjabi Shaadi. Arshad Warsi’s Guddu Rangeela might also hit the big screen in the last week of February.

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