Rajinikanth's 2.0 effect: Mahesh Babu's Bharat Ane Nenu, Allu Arjun's Naa Peru Surya opt out of race

Superstar Rajinikanth's much-awaited multi-lingual movie 2.0 is said to have pushed Mahesh Babu's Bharat Ane Nenu (BAN) and Allu Arjun's Naa Peru Surya (NPS) out of the race at the box office.

The makers of Naa Peru Surya and Bharat Anu Nenu had initially locked April 27, 2018, as their release dates. While many in the industry have been expressing concern over clash at the box office, the producers of 2.0 announced that the Rajinikanth starrer would hit the screens on the same date. 

This news resulted in an outburst by Banny Vasu, one of the producers of Naa Peru Surya, against the makers of 2.0. He blasted them for not consulting the makers of Telugu films. He had urged the Tollywood producers' council to come out with a proper solution for the mega clash so that the Telugu film producers would not suffer huge losses due to the Shankar directorial.

The latest we hear is that Sunil Narang has bought Nizam theatrical rights of 2.0 for a whopping price. He reportedly spoke to DVV Danayya (producer of Bharat Ane Nenu) and Bunny Vasu after they made a hue and cry about the Rajinikanth starrer. Later, Sunil Narang attended the meeting held by the Telugu Producers' Council on Friday and confirmed April 27 as the release of 2.0.

It is rumoured that Sunil Narang is a very powerful distributor and the makers Naa Peru Surya and Bharat Anu Nenu were afraid that he might create problems for them if there are any hurdles for 2.0. Hence, the producers decided to get out of the competition with the Lyca Productions' next movie.

The release date of Bharat Ane Nenu has been reportedly advanced to April 13, while the makers of Naa Peru Surya are yet to take a call on over its release date. "With this, the two Telugu producers have decided to change their release dates to give way for Rajinikanth's film," a source revealed to Deccan Chronicle.