Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; June 9, 2018)

It's a double bonanza for Shraddha Kapoor who's set to occupy a majority of shows at the country's multiplexes on August 31. With the makers of Amar Kaushik's Stree announcing the August release date for the Rajkummar Rao and Kapoor starrer two days ago, the film is set to lock horns with Batti Gul Meter Chalu — also featuring Kapoor — which had already zeroed in on the date earlier.

"August 31 was always our date," laments a production insider from Batti Gul Meter Chalu, adding that while producer Bhushan Kumar could have picked another day, doing so wouldn't be feasible for leading man Shahid Kapoor. "[After this release] Shahid will start working on Arjun Reddy, so that he can wrap up that film and be free before the arrival of his second baby. A meeting between the producers [of the two films] has to be conducted to ensure that the situation be sorted soon."

Trade pundit Amod Mehra calls the clash unfortunate. "One of the films will have to clear the space. Ideally, one would say that Batti [being the bigger production] should move its date, but that won't be possible because they have already delayed the release given the fracas with [former producers KriArj Entertainment]." Mehra adds that, inevitably, Shraddha Kapoor will be left struggling to manage promotional work for both films. "Also, both films will eat into each other's profits. I hope both the producers find a middle-ground and one picks another date." We reached out to Kumar and Stree producer Dinesh Vijan, but they didn't respond till the time of going to press.