Everything may be fair in love and war, but Fox Star Studios has decided to play it absolutely fair in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’s box-office war against Shivaay.
With both films releasing on Diwali -- October 28 -- exhibitors were fearing that their distributors will fight it out for the maximum number of screens. After all, that has been the norm in Bollywood, the latest example being the Rustom-Mohenjo Daro clash where the Akshay Kumar-starrer was largely shortchanged on the number of single screens (No Rustom in city's single screens, it's only Mohenjo Daro, Aug 11).
However, this time around, the exhibitors were in for a delightful surprise. Fox Star Studios, the distributor of Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, has decided against arm-twisting theatre owners to secure maximum screenings.
Image Source: Manav Manglani
In fact, SpotboyE.com has it that Fox Star wants it to be a level playing field and has requested that both films be given equal number of screens. This is perhaps the first time in Bollywood’s history that a distributor has displayed such sporting spirit.
Theatre owners are rejoicing and we are sure even Ajay Devgn, the producer-director of Shivaay, has no reason to complain. But what if -- just in case -- Ajay decides that he wants more screens for Shivaay than ADHM?
Image Source: Manav Manglani
Well, Fox Star has a trump card in its hands -- M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story. The Neeraj Pandey directorial is releasing on September 30 and the studio can always say they’ll not screen the biopic in theatres that favour Shivaay.
Image Source: americanbollywoodtv
We think that the situation will not arise. Ajay is not at all unreasonable and for that matter, even Fox Star has not brought up the topic of Dhoni biopic in connection with ADHM. However, it does help to have some bargaining power, doesn’t it?