Ekta Kapoor, who apparently hit a rough patch with Shah Rukh Khan, is said to be planning the release of her upcoming film on the same date as SRK's "Happy New Year".
The Balaji head honcho is reportedly holding SRK responsible for the failure of her latest release "Once Upon a Time in Mumbai Dobaara" (OUATIMD). "OUATIMD" was slated to hit the screens on 9 August, but the release was pushed to accommodate "Chennai Express" for the Eid weekend.
"Chennai Express turned out to be a massive blockbuster thanks to Shah Rukh Khan's marketing strategies. "OUATIMD", which was released during the Independence Day weekend, failed to perform well both at the domestic and overseas box offices and was largely affected by the "Chennai Express" wave.
Ekta is apparently miffed at SRK as his production company Red Chillies Entertainment and UTV Motion Pictures failed to live up to their promise of withdrawing "Chennai Express" from some theatres, to allow "OUATIMD" have a wide opening on the first day of its release.
Now, it seems Ekta wants to give it back by releasing her film on the same date as SRK's "Happy New Year".
"Happy New Year", directed by Farah Khan, is expected to release on Diwali in 2014. Rumours are doing the rounds that Ekta wants her film "Milan Talkies", starring Shahid Kapur, to clash with SRK's flick.
According to Mid-Day, a source said that Ekta has allegedly asked the "Milan Talkies" team to begin pre-production work on the film. She has also apparently requested director Tigmanshu Dhulia to complete the film's shooting on schedule to allocate more time for marketing her film.
"If Ekta decides to release her film next year on Diwali, it could prove to be a tough situation for SRK," said the source.
"Happy New Year" has been delayed on numerous occasions and the film's shooting finally commenced on 1 September. Deepika Padukone is once again teaming up with SRK after the blockbuster flick "Chennai Express". The rest of the cast includes Abhishek Bachchan, Sonu Sood and Boman Irani.