August 7, 2010 (Sampurn Wire): It is a known fact now that the moment promos of Dabangg hit the air, the makers of We Are Family had no qualms in pre-poning the film’s release. Owing to Salman Khan‘s action entertainer building some instant hype on the basis of a two minute promo, it was imperative that the family drama comedy featuring Kajol, Kareena Kapoor, and Arjun Rampal comes on a different date instead of getting tangled in a clash.
However, one wonders if the change in plans for We Are Family was an overnight decision since September 10 release date for Abhinav Kashyap directed Dabangg was announced long time ago.
“I remember that Karan and I did have a conversation about the two films clashing with each other. It was quite some time back when we had met at a friend’s place. I always believed that Eid was just the right time to bring on Dabangg”, says Arbaaz Khan, who is making his debut as a producer with the Salman Khan starrer.
At that time, Karan Johar was of the opinion that the two films could come together.
“That’s right”, confirms Arbaaz. “He felt that since the two films were totally different from each other, it would be fine even if they released on the same day. I also felt that it was fair enough because Eid is a good time and not just two but even three films can do well if they are made well enough.”
However, it appears that there were subsequent deliberations within Karan’s team that led to a new release date of September 3 being announced for We Are Family which is directed by debutant Siddharth P. Malhotra. This time around, there were no further conversations between Arbaaz and Karan as the latter took the call himself.
“I don’t really know what transpired there internally as no one spoke to me. I got to know only later that they had decided to pre-pone the film”, says Arbaaz, “It’s fine. They must have given this some good thought later.”
There is still a mini-clash which is waiting to happen though. Rajnikanth and Aishwarya Rai starrer Endhiran, which arrives in both Tamil and Hindi, would be releasing on September10 as well. It would be interesting to see whether Eid is partial to one of the two biggies or whole heartedly accommodates both.
–Joginder Tuteja/Sampurn Wire
