E-Paper
Clash of the titans
Freaky Fridays, which see the release of multiple big budget movies on the same dates, are giving Bollywood bigshots the jitters, writes Minakshi Saini.
Big-budget movies, A-list stars, key production houses and a fight for Fridays. That's the big picture every weekend from August onwards, as simultaneous movie releases mean a battle at the box office.
First up - over Independence Day - is the clash between Salman Khan's God Tussi Great Ho and Ranbir Kapoor's Bachna Ae Haseeno. October 2 ups the stakes with a trio of films - Abhishek Bachchan's Drona, Sanjay Dutt's Kidnap and Salman's Wanted Dead and Alive.
Mere weeks after the three releases, on October 24, Bollywood will create history of sorts with four huge movies - Salman Khan's Yuwaj, Akshay Kumar's Chandni Chowk to China, Ajay Deygan's Golmaal Returns and Saif and Kareena's Roadside Romeo - that are set to hit theatres on the same date.
The trend was kicked off by Love Story 2050 and Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na, both of which released on July 4. Love Story didn't come out particularly well in the battle, but ironically for the Bawejas, who went to town expressing their disappointment, the movie's hero Harman is now faced with the peculiar dilemma.
His film Victory will feature in a face-off with two of Priyanka's - Dostana and Fashion on November 14. Director Madhur Bhandarkar, who confirmed his release of Fashion on November 14, said: "We fixed our date a couple of months ago. I haven't spoken to anyone about the other two releases yet. Let's see if we can work things out amicably"
Harman isn't keen about fighting it out with his girlfriend's films. "Obviously, a clash with Priyanka's films is the last thing I'd want or expect," he said. "But the re- lease date is four months away It's early days yet."
According to industry insiders, they may have a tough time convincing Karan Johar to delay the release of Dostana. But Imran Khan, a veteran of the clash, who will face one again with his movie Kidnap, said: "Personally I feel it doesn't make a difference if there are a number of releases on the same date. It's the content of your film that will woo the audience. If the film is good, people will watch it irrespective of the number of releases at the box office."
