Posted:
The IPL ( Indian Premier League) second season is scheduled to be held from April 10 to May 29. The month of May, being vacation period ought to have ideally had several films releasing. But trade analysts point out that many films including Yash Raj Films' New York, Boney Kapoor's Wanted: Dead Or Alive and Soham Shah's Luck, which were scheduled to be summer releases, have been postponed in order to avoid a clash with the IPL matches. A spokesperson from Boney Kapoor's office however denied the reports and said that Wanted... had always been for June 12. Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision, the producers of Luck, also said there was no change in the release date which had always been July 3. Anil Kapoor's production house has retained the release date of their romcom Shortkut on April 3. Said a spokesperson for the film "If the IPL had taken off on April 3 as we had heard before, we would have toyed with the idea of shifting the release date, but not now." The producers of Nagesh Kukunoor's 8 By 10 also have no plans to push the release day from April 3. Director Sujoy Ghosh, whose Aladdin was slotted for a summer release, has still not locked the date. "We (the producers and I) have some other considerations before we announce the date but yes, it does not make sense to release a film during the matches." What has made the film and cricket game more interesting is that theatre personality Paritosh Painter is releasing his debutant his directorial venture Paying Guest on April 24, bang in the midst of the IPL! Said Painter, "Our marketing strategy for Paying Guest, will integrate the film with the IPL. In fact we are hoping that while the men watch the matches, the women and children will go to the theatres to watch our family comedy." Writer-director Rumi Jaffry has also scheduled the release of his film Life Partner starring Tusshar Kapoor and Govinda on May 1. Said Jaffry, "My producers Abbas-Mustan and I believe that films have their own audience and cricket its own. My film Biwi No 1 was released during the World Cup and went on to become the biggest hit of the year!" Other summer releases this year are Sajid Nadiadwala's Kambakkht Ishq (May 29), Sudhir Mishra's Tera Kya Hoga Johnny, Anthony D'Souza's Blue, Ravi Chopra's Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai, Vishal Bhardwaj's Kaminay and Bunty Walia's Lamhaa besides others.
The overwhelming response of Indians to the Twenty20 matches last year left many producers watching their revenues go for a toss. The matches overtook films as fans thronged stadia and telly screens watching cricket leaving behind empty theatres. Yash Raj Film's Tashan and Rakesh Roshan's Krazzy 4 were two major casuaties of the cricket craze. Ajay Devgan's U Me Aur Hum, which released three days before the IPL matches suffered losses. Only Jannat's box-office returns remained steady. Once bitten twice shy, film producers are in no mood to risk a release during the IPL season.
