Ajay Devgn, Shah Rukh Khan to clash at the box office

Thanks to Milind for the news.
Looks like it is going to be a fire-cracking Diwali. Ajay Devgn’s forthcoming home production Son of Sardar is all set to clash with Yash Chopra’s next with Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif on the same day.

However, with recent news that Yash Raj Films has asked distributors and exhibitors to screen SRK’s film on the same scale that Salman Khan’s upcoming spy thriller Ek Tha Tiger will release on, word is that Devgn and the makers of his film are not taking this casually. Considering that Salman’s film is a solo release, it has clinched all the major cinema halls. Also, the fact that the film will release on Eid is expected to work wonders again for Salman.

A source informs, “Ajay Devgn and the production house are not taking this lying down and have already spoken to many major exhibitors. The exhibitors have promised to give them an equal number of cinema halls. Devgn and his team feel that it is not fair that a big production house as Yash Chopra’s does something like this.” An exhibitor tells us, “Yash Chopra and Aditya Chopra are big names and I am sure they do not need a Salman Khan film to shield a Shah Rukh Khan film. But I guess that’s what they are doing.”

“The promos of Son Of Sardar are speaking for itself and today everyone wants to do business and not favour anyone in particular. While YRF is huge, one cannot underestimate Devgn’s recent box office track record. He is the only actor apart from Salman who now has three films in the Rs 100 crore club,” he added.

Although Ajay Devgn remained unavailable for comment, Vikram Malhotra, CEO of Studio 18 and co-producer of the film said, “In this day and age, control of choice has moved from the producer/distributor to the audience. If the audience favours a film, exhibitors will necessarily need to showcase it to them! Also, any commercially sound theatre owner will know better than to not supply a film, which the audience demands especially in the peak period of Diwali. ”

All said and done, it looks like the daggers are drawn this Diwali. All we can say is that may the best man win!

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