Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; June 13, 2017)

Backing his decision to avoid a clash with Akshay Kumar at the box office, Shah Rukh Khan had told mid- day, “It’s always nice if two films get their own breathing space.” Taking a cue from the Bollywood Baadshah, the makers of Shraddha Kapoor-starrer, Haseena Parkar, have decided to postpone the biopic’s release, thereby averting a BO contest with Mubarakan, starring Anil Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor.

A source from the production house says, “Director Apoorva Lakhia and producer Nahid Khan called for a meeting on Sunday night to discuss the promotional strategy of the film. Earlier, it was supposed to clash with Anurag Basu’s Jagga Jasoos, and Saif Ali Khan’s Chef on July 14. Jagga then moved to a solo release window of July 28, while Chef was postponed to October. However, Mubarakan will now hit screens on July 14. These days, it’s difficult to find a weekend with no other film scheduled for release, but the producers [of Haseena] have decided to postpone their project.”

While the makers are yet to lock a fresh date, a July release looks unlikely given that Suneel Darshan’s Ek Haseena Thi, Ek Deewana Tha is set to hit screens that month. “Similar titles could be misleading for the audience and dangerous for the film,” the source reasons.

Trade pundits welcomed the news, pointing out that division of business eventually leads to monetary losses for the industry. “Clashes should be avoided as much as possible. It’s wonderful to see producers taking charge of the situation responsibly, without ego governing their decisions,” says trade pundit Girish Wankhede.

We reached out to Haseena director Lakhia, but he remained unavailable for comment.