Rajniesh Duggal’s ‘Saansein’ will now clash with Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Dear Zindagi’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision of invalidating Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes which came out of his sleeves all of a sudden, has affected Bollywood and showbiz in more than one way. Over the past few days, a number of Bollywood stars have reacted to the currency ban; but that’s not all. Rajniesh Duggal and Sonarika Bhadoria-starrer ‘Saansein’ which was scheduled for a release today (November 11) got pushed ahead as the makers assumed people would be occupied with sorting cash and exchanging currency this week. Now, the film is to clash with Gauri Shinde’s ‘Dear Zindagi’ on November 25.

“Of course, this puts the pressure on us to spend on marketing and promotion for two more weeks. However, it is better to do that instead of giving an excuse later that we could not do well due to demonetisation drive,” producer Gautam Jain says.

However, ‘Dear Zindagi’ is a Shah Rukh Khan-starrer and any other film hitting the screens on the same day would have a good reason to worry; for SRK films have their share of strong footfall in both single screens and multiplexes.

“Of course the presence of Shah Rukh Khan means that single screens would have its fair share as well. Still, it is not that there is no space for any other film. Considering the fact that ‘Saansein’ is a horror musical, a formula that traditionally works especially when the budget is under control, it is getting a good deal with single screens. Moreover, there is no such scenario like 4-5-6 films arriving in a single week which would have made them all get lost in the crowd. ‘Saansein’ is getting good visibility,” said an industry insider.

December 2 was also an option for ‘Saansein’ makers to release the film. But on the same day, Rajneish Duggal’s another film ‘Wajah Tum Ho’ hits the big screens and thus, November 25 was a more feasible option.

Ranjini Maitra

Journalist. Writer. Reader. Enthu cutlet. Mood-swing machine. Day dreamer. Sandwiched between ‘live life fully’ and ‘lose some weight’. Mantra of life: Love and love more.