Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; November 7, 2017)

Akshay Kumar sent shock waves in the industry when he announced last week that his home production, Pad Man will hit theatres on Republic Day 2018. It was viewed as hara-kiri by many since Rajinikanth’s magnum opus, 2.0, which also stars Kumar as the negative lead, had already booked January 26 for its release. In an interview to mid-day as part of the conversation series, Sit with Hitlist, Kumar finally opened up on the Pad Man-2.0 debate.

When asked if he considers pitting two of his projects against one another a wise move, he said, “There is a lot of false information that is being circulated over both films releasing on the same day. Why would I clash with my own film? It will be either Pad Man or 2.0”

Does this imply that Rajini’s mega-budget film will be pushed to a later date? While rumours had suggested that Shankar’s sci-fi drama wouldn’t be able to meet the January 26 deadline as its special effects were not complete, the production house had promptly issued a statement asserting that Rajini would keep his date with the fans.

On being probed if 2.0’s release will be postponed, Kumar diplomatically maintained, “While Pad Man is a film that I have produced, 2.0 belongs to Shankar, Rajinikanth and Lyca Productions. They will decide whether they want to release the film on Republic Day. If they do, I will postpone Pad Man and if they don’t, I will go ahead.”

The actor added that his decision to advance Pad Man’s release from April 13 to R-Day stemmed from the fact that a holiday release is an advantageous business proposition. “I am certainly having a release on Republic Day because if I don’t do it, there are many others who are waiting in line. So I might as well take advantage.”