Dosti be damned, this week, there’s a war between Akshay Kumar and John Abraham at the box office. What was considered to be a competition between unequals, is no longer so. The surprising success of Parmanu earlier this year has brought John back into the reckoning.
The representative of a major multiplex chain says the competition between Gold and Satyameva Jayate is rather fierce. “As far as the number of screens and shows goes, the competition is fierce. Initially, Gold had an advantage, because of Akshay Kumar’s popularity. But as the time of their release approaches, Satyameva Jayate has gained the upper hand as far as advance bookings are concerned.”
With two powerful production houses, Excel Entertainment and T Series, going all-out to promote their premium products slated for release this Independence Day, it looks like a walkover is not in the offing for either film. And Akshay is not the least bit pleased by this.
A source close to the development says, “Gold was given the Independence Day slot long before Satyameva Jayate chose the same day for release. Akshay did try to reason with the Satyameva Jayate team. Earlier this year, he graciously vacated the Republic Day slot he had booked for PadMan and gave it to Padmaavat. This time too, he saw no reason for a clash. But since it hasn’t been averted, he sees no reason not to take the competition on headlong.”
It remains to be seen which of the two films wins this war. At the end of the day, it is a film’s content and not persuasive marketing that determines its fate.
HT19
