Vivek Oberoi requests delay of Phoonk 2

At a time, when Ram Gopal Verma has buried issues with his protégé and cast him in his next movie, he surely wouldn’t jeopardise it. Vivek Oberoi has convinced him to delay Phoonk 2 to avoid a box-office clash with Prince.

At a time, when the mentor has buried issues with his protégé and cast him in his next movie, he surely wouldn’t jeopardise it. Keeping that in mind, Ram Gopal Varma is believed to have delayed the release of

Phoonk 2

by a week, to avoid a clash with

Prince

, which opens in theatres on April 9. This is mainly because the actor is playing the lead in his next,

Rakta Charitra

.

Apparently, the request came from Oberoi, who dropped in at Varma’s office on Holi to discuss his apprehensions about the films clashing at the box-office. According to an insider, “Vivek told Ramuji that even though Ritesh Deshmukh’s

Jaane Kahaan Se Aayi Hai

was also releasing on the same day, he was worried about

Phoonk 2

eating into

Prince’s

collections. More so, since

Phoonk

had done surprisingly well despite releasing with the Mallika Sherawat-driven

Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam

.”

Varma assured Oberoi that he would finalise things after Kumar Taurani, producer of

Prince

, spoke to him, since the release date of the film was shifted a couple of times. Our source adds, “On Wednesday, after Kumar Taurani assured Ramuji that his

Prince

was definitely releasing on April 9, he decided to postpone the release of

Phoonk 2

to April 16.”

Varma, who was shooting

Rakta Charitra

, replied via a text message: “Vivek and I never discussed any release dates. And I never spoke to Kumar Taurani in this regard.”

However, Taurani confirmed with, “Ramu

ji

sent me a text message to ask if I was releasing

Prince

on April 9. I confirmed the date. The next thing I heard from trade circles was that

Phoonk 2

has been rescheduled to April 16,” he said, adding, “I was aware that Ramuji’s

Phoonk 2

and

Jaane Kahaan Se Aayi Hai

were also releasing on April 9. At first we were planning to come on April 26, but since the extensive post-production took time, we zeroed in on April 9.

The special effects in

Prince

are something that haven’t been seen in India before. Since we spent money on the shoot, we didn’t want to compromise on the special effects and post-production. We have to maintain its quality. That takes time. ”