Amitabh Bachchan’s Rann and Salman Khan’s Veer will clash on January 22, 2010

If Ram Gopal Varma and his producers were anticipating a solo week for their forthcoming Rann, than Anil Sharma’s Veer with Salman Khan will also stake its claim of the box-office pie. The two films are releasing on January 22 next year. Vishal Bharadwaj’s Ishkiyaan, also scheduled to release on same day, will now open a week earlier.

 

 While producer Vijay Galani and presenters Eros Entertainment are believed to have pumped in over Rs 40 crore into the period epic with Khan, Sheetal Talwar and Madhu Mantena are said to have invested less than that for Varma’s film on the media, in which Amitabh Bachchan plays the head off a news channel. 
 

 Sheetal Talwar, the producer of Rann, remains unperturbed: “Initially we were planning to come on October 2, but after the strike, the release dates were decided by the United Producers Distributors Forum. So we opted for January 22 and since we announced the date, all our promotional campaigns have been planned accordingly. So it’s news to me that Veer and Ishkiyaan are also releasing on the same day.”
 

 Galani says that the Republic Day suits the patriotic sub-plot of the film. He says, “My film is set in the 1800s when India was under the British Raj and the fight for freedom was already underway. So, 26 January, when the atmosphere is one of joy of being free and a democratic republic, perfectly suits Veer.”
 

 Subhead

But Talwar remains unperturbed about the films eating into each other’s business. “Anil Sharma is a good director and I respect Salman Khan as an actor. But I have more respect for my own movie. Each film has its own merit. The audience is the best judge. If the film is good, it will work even if two other films are releasing simultaneously, as we’ve seen in the past. And if the audience doesn’t like a movie, it won’t run even if it’s the only release of the week,” he maintained.

 

Sharma, whose Apne failed to score over Himesh Reshammiya’s Aap Ka Surroor and Emraan Hashmi’s Awarapan, is optimistic as his Gadar emerged a big hit despite releasing with Aamir Khan’s Lagaan. “My first film, Shradhanjali, released along with six other films. But still, it did better than the others. So I’m not worried about other films coming on the same day,” he enthused.

 

But Sharma’s producer Galani thinks differently, “There’s bound to be some effects due to the clash. Although it’s difficult to predict which film will do the best business, I think about 10 to 15 per cent of the collections are affected when two or three films release on the same day,” he says.

 

Vinod Mirani, managing editor of Box Office India, says it’s way too early to say anything about the fate of these films. “Of late, Ramu’s films have been rather unpredictable. So everyone will keep fingers crossed for Rann. As for Veer, it’s a remake of the Tony Curtis starrer, Taras Bulba, a complex film. One hopes it has been very well adapted into Veer,” he said.