JUNE 29- Kareena Kapoor and Ajay Devgn tuned in from London via Skype as the trailer of their upcoming film, Satyagraha, was launched by director Prakash Jha in Mumbai.
But the rest of the film’s cast, including Amitabh Bachchan, Manoj Bajpayee and the petite Amrita Rao, were present in person to celebrate the launch.
The film, loosely based on the anti-corruption movement unleashed by Anna Hazare in 2011, was initially supposed to release on Independence Day, but will now hit screens on August 30.
Satyagraha is the latest film to have its release date shifted to avoid a box-office clash with another big-ticket movie. With several big films set to hit theatres in August, a sort of domino effect seems to be in play in Bollywood, with filmmakers pushing back the release of films to ensure they draw the maximum audience.
First, the makers of Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai Again shifted its release from August 8, which marks the Eid weekend, to August 15. Industry sources say they were forced to take the step after Chennai Express co-producers Shah Rukh Khan and UTV hijacked all single screens for its release on August 8, leaving little exhibition space for Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai Again, which primarily targets the single screen audience.
As a result, Satyagraha, which would have proved to be an ideal Independence Day release, will hit screens two weeks later simply to evade a simultaneous release with Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai Again.
“This leaves breathing space for the other big releases,” trade expert Taran Adarsh said. With Satyagraha hitting theatres on August 30, three smaller films scheduled for release on the same date- Subhash Ghai’s Kaanchi, John Abraham’s Madras Cafe and Sharman Joshi-Soha Ali Khan starrer War Chhod Na Yaar- may be forced to seek other release dates.
“We have to wait and see if they do. As of now they are maintaining their dates,” Adarsh said.
INDIA TODAY
