Release plans of films displaced

The rescheduling of RANG DE BASANTI to January 26 after the last minute withdrawal and the subsequent clearance of the Animal Welfare Board, has not upset its producers UTV's release plans, as much as it has disturbed the release plans of the other films scheduled for the same day. While Shyam Bajaj's AKSAR has been shifted to February, (date yet to be confirmed), Suneel Darshan's long-awaited film, MERE JEEVAN SAATHI has also been rescheduled for a February 3 release but the one that is most likely to be affected is Sohail Khan's FIGHT CLUB. Producer Sohail Khan was not available for comment but according to director Vicky Chopra, the film had been specially scheduled for a January 26 release, to catch on the holiday crowd. 'We were looking at catching the holiday crowd when we initially finalized January 26 as the release date of the film but under the new circumstances, we have no other alternative other than rescheduling it to February 3. We definitely cannot think of releasing the film against RANG DE BASANTI,' Chopra says.

He and his team are apparently not worried about the one-day internationals between India and Pakistan that exhibitors suspect will hugely impact box-office collections. 'As far as I know the one-day matches are only happening on two days, January 6 and 11. I don't think they can displace my film,' he says. The distributors of FIGHT CLUB also seem to be anxious about how the film will respond to the new release date. Says Ravi Machhar, a veteran distributor who is releasing the film in Nizam, a major territory. 'It is a very chaotic situation. We had worked out all our release plans around January 26 and we will have to wait and watch the response to the film.'

Director Suneel Darshan on the other hand, seems to be unaffected by the new release date of his film, MERE JEEVAN SAATHI. 'I am glad that the film is seeing the light of the day at the end of everything though it would have been any day better to have a January 26 release,' Suneel reveals.

A section of exhibitors also feel that RANG DE BASANTI has also indirectly affected the box-office response to the films, which were released in a hurry to avert the clash with the former. Says Sanjay Dalia, Vice-President, Operation and Development, Cineline Theatres, 'The film displaced the plans of two other films, ZINDA and FAMILY, which were hurriedly scheduled for release on the same day to avert the clash with RANG DE BASANTI. If it was known that the latter was releasing on January 26, one of the films could have been scheduled later. In the process, both the films were badly affected at the box-office,' Dalia reveals.

The ones who are still smiling however are the producers, who find the new release date to be an apt one for the film. Says Siddharth Kapoor, Marketing Director, UTV Pictures, 'The new release date hasn't displaced our plans at all. On the contrary, it is ideal for the film's release. We aren't aware of the other releases on the same day but no film is likely to pose a problem for RANG DE BASANTI.'