Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 17, 2018)

While Pad Man and Padmaavat gear up for a clash at the box-office this Republic Day weekend, there has been a massive reshuffling of release dates for the summer with two Hollywood superhero franchises hitting Indian screens. Not too keen on a faceoff with them, Bollywood filmmakers have pushed their releases around.

Ekta Kapoor, when told that Fox Star Studios had zeroed in on May 18 for Deadpool 2, quickly shifted her all-girl drama, Veere Di Wedding, to June 1. “The first Deadpool was a worldwide success and Ekta did not want to divide her audience. Also, June 1 is her nephew Laksshya’s second birthday and she believes it’s a lucky date,” a spokesperson from Balaji Motion Pictures told Mirror. The film features Kareena Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania.

While it was only two films at loggerheads in Ekta’s case, there was a lot of action scheduled for April 27 since it’s a lucrative period aided by summer holidays. The Rajinikath-Akshay Kumar-starrer 2.0, Tiger Shroff’s Baaghi sequel and Kangana Ranaut’s period-drama Manikarnika were all gearing up for a BO clash. But with Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War now releasing on April 27 (a highlight of sorts since the Indian release is an entire week ahead of the superhero film’s release on May 4) B-townies have decided not to risk it. “Baaghi 2 was moved a month ahead to March 30, while 2.0 was shifted to April 14. Manikarnika’s release date remains unannounced,” an Indian spokesperson for the Hollywood film informed Mirror.

Only Nikkhil Advani is ready to brave Thor, Iron Man and Captain America. His Saif Ali Khan-starrer Baazaar, directed by Gauravv Chawla, is on schedule. “We’re on for April 27,” Nikkhil confirmed.