Dilwale business affected by protests, not BM: Rohit Shetty

By HT

His latest film Dilwale is racing ahead of Bajirao Mastani but the collections are not too impressive if the budget of the movie is considered.

Filmmaker Rohit Shetty, however, has said that the protests against the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer affected the opening collection, not the Deepika Padukone-starrer that hit theatres the same day as Dilwale.

Claiming that he was always prepared for the face off with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Bajirao Mastani, the 41-year-old director said, "We all were aware that Dilwale and Bajirao Mastani are coming together, so, I was prepared for that competition and the harm we will give each other. But I think what affected the Friday and Saturday collections were the ban in Rajasthan and MP. Almost 40 per cent of the theaters were not showing the film and we resumed on Sunday morning... It's all mathematics, how many theaters we are running in we will get the collections according to that."

The Chennai Express director said bans are the outcome of "misunderstanding" and if dealt with patience, things can be settled out easily. "Bans do harm the business, but when you go and talk to the people opposing the film, it all gets sorted. I have come to the conclusion that all this happens due to misunderstanding. And the issue easily gets resolved if you go and talk to them nicely," he said.

Dilwale, released last Friday, features Varun Dhawan, Kriti Sanon, Johnny Lever, Varun Sharma among others in prominent roles. The film has bagged thunderous response and has earned Rs 75.81 crore in four days on the domestic ticket windows alone. "With Star Wars releasing at the same time this kind of response overseas is great. I never really thought this kind of response will come from international circuit as I always knew Star Wars was coming. I think Shah Rukh is very popular overseas or may be the SRK-Kajol chemistry is working in favour of the film," he said.

Bringing back the iconic pair of SRK-Kajol after five years can look like a tough task, but Rohit said it was a cake walk Kajol gave quick nod to the film.