Shah Rukh's 'Happy New Year' to have a Competitor? Akshay Kumar Film to Re-release on Diwali

Shah Rukh Khan's big release this Diwali "Happy New Year" now has a competitor out of nowhere.

Akshay Kumar's 1999 release super hit film "Jaanwar" will reportedly clash with "Happy New Year".

Until now, no filmmakers dared to release their films alongside "Happy New Year" - making it a solo release this festive season. Even Brad Pitt's "Fury" and Ben Affleck "Gone Girl", were pushed ahead not to clash with the Bollywood film. But now, the "Khiladi" star's film has dared to sneak into Khan's domain.

"Jaanwar" director Suneel Darshan, while talking about his sudden decision to re-release the film alongside "Happy New Year", told Bollywood Hungama: "The re-release was over-due. And what better time than Diwali? That it's releasing on the same Friday as HNY is a mere coincidence."

"Jaanwar" starring Kumar also featured Karishma Kapoor and Shilpa Shetty in lead roles and is based on a criminal, who gets a new direction in his life after he adopts an orphan child. The film is considered to have revived Kumar's fading career. After the success of the film, Darshan and Kumar teamed up again to make hit projects, including "Ek Rishta", "Talaash" and "Dosti".

"Jaanwar", a decade old film will be released in a new digitally advanced manner. The producer-director believes that with the re-release, the viewers will get to see the "Khiladi" actor's stupendous performance till date.

Meanwhile, "Jaanwar" will now be released only in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi and UP and will be released in the other states later, added Darshan.

When asked about "The Shaukeens" actor's reaction to the sudden re-release of his film, the filmmaker replied: "I am sure Akshay will be happy, as the audience will again get to see his finest performance to date."

However, surprisingly, Kumar is said to be unaware of Darshan's re-release plans and is apparently not too pleased about it, according to a source close to the actor.

"Happy New Year" is set to release worldwide on 24 October and apart from Khan, the film also features Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Boman Irani, Sonu Sood and Vivaan Shah in the lead roles.