Nayandeep Rakshit (DNA; February 28, 2018)

In December 2015, it was Shah Rukh Khan versus Ranveer Singh when Dilwale and Bajirao Mastani clashed at the box office. This year, Ranveer might find himself in a similar spot, albeit, with another Khan — Salman!

A DECEMBER 2018 RELEASE?
The third instalment of the successful Dabangg franchise has been in the pipeline for some time now. Although it hasn’t  been officially announced yet, sources tell us that Arbaaz Khan (the producer) and Prabhu Dheva (the director) have already locked its script. Our source informs, “The plan is to begin the movie this year and wrap it in one go so that it can be released at the end of 2018.”

NO CLASH WITH SRK
Since Shah Rukh Khan’s Zero releases the week before Christmas, his buddy Salman was firm that he wouldn’t release his film on the same date. Our source adds, “Even though Salman knows that he will miss out on the Christmas weekend, he has made it clear to his team that he won’t clash with Zero at any cost.”

BATTLE OF THE COPS
Since the makers of Dabangg 3 can’t have their movie hitting the screens on X’Mas weekend, they are eyeing the following weekend (December 28). Our source adds, “Dabangg 3 will probably come a week later, which means it will battle it out with Rohit Shetty’s Simmba (a remake of the Telugu blockbuster Temper). But nothing is confirmed right now.” This will not only lead to a clash between Ranveer and Salman, but also between two cop stories.

Ranveer plays a corrupt policeman — Sangram Bhalerao aka Simmba — in Rohit’s film and from the first look, it seems like the character is on the lines of Salman’s Chulbul Pandey in Dabangg and Ajay Devgn’s Singham. Salman, as usual, will return to playing his Robinhood character.

SALMAN’S TIMELINE
In a previous interview to this paper, Salman had spoken about how packed his schedule is this year. He had said, “Dabangg 3’s script is ready. I’ll shoot for it between the schedules of Bharat, which is Atul and Alvira Agnihotri’s production. The movie, which is being directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, requires some gaps during its filming.”

Confirming the same, a source close to the actor says, “Salman wraps Race 3 by April. It will release in June. He will also finish his commitment to the second season of Dus Ka Dum during that time. In June, he starts the first schedule of Bharat, which won’t be too long. He then takes a break from Ali’s film and plays Chulbul Pandey. He wraps up Dabangg 3 in a start-to-finish schedule and then goes back to shooting Bharat, which will be his Eid release for 2019. Then, he begins work on Kick 2 next year.”

ARBAAZ SPEAKS
When After Hrs contacted Arbaaz, he said, “I’ll comment when I’m sure of starting the film. Currently, I’m concentrating on the script. I’ll have a clear idea by the end of April.”