Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 18, 2014)

Anurag Kashyap has been vocal about the fact that Bombay Velvet is his most ambitious film till date. The maverick filmmaker has erected an ornate replica of ‘50s Mumbai in Sri Lanka and is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that all goes well for his magnum opus targetting a Christmas release.

 So, the news that another long-awaited film, Rajkumar Hirani’s Aamir Khan-starrer PK would also arrive on the same day, a slot booked by him months in advance, has left Anurag fuming. “All it would have taken is a phone call,” says Anurag.“I heard the rumours and called Raju to tell him that if they were indeed planning a Christmas release to please let me know in advance. At that point, they said there were no such plans,” says a distraught Anurag. The call never came but three days later, he learnt from Aamir Khan’s Twitter handle that P.K, that was to open on June 6, had been pushed to December 25 -- a slot which has proved lucky for him (3 Idiots, Ghajini, Dhoom 3). “It hurts because I respect Raju as a filmmaker and as a person. Apart from being a colleague, he is also a friend,” Anurag says.

 So is he worried about PK denting the commercial prospects of his film? “Right now, I am focused on making a spectacular film. I’m not concerned about the marketing blitzkrieg at this point. It’s obvious that both films will be affected if they release on the same day. We may sort that out at a later stage,” says Anurag. Rajkumar Hirani remained unavailable for comment.