Simmba postponed to avoid clash with Zero

The release date for Rohit Shetty’s Ranveer Singh, Sara Ali Khan starrer, Simmba, has been postponed from December 21 to December 28 in order to avoid a clash with Shah Rukh Khan’s Zero. The makers of the two films are said to have sat down and decided not to eat into each other’s box office collections.

“It’s not a question of competition. Karan Johar (the producer of Simmba), Shah Rukh Khan and I sat down and decided not to have the films come out on the same day as it would harm business. We decided to shift our release date to December 28. It was a mutual decision,” says Rohit Shetty, adding, “If the film is good, it will run; it doesn’t matter.”

Last year, Shah Rukh Khan tried to get Rakesh Roshan to push the release of Kaabil, which was pitted against Raees, but his efforts bore no fruit. This time around, Rohit Shetty has been more accommodating, possibly because he and King Khan have worked together on Chennai Express and Dilwale in the past.

Meanwhile, trade sources are happy that the filmmakers have resolved the issue amicably. “Shah Rukh has been having a lean period. But he is still King Khan, and his films can crush everything underneath them. It makes good business sense for the makers of Simmba to shift their dates. Both Kaabil and Raees would have done better had they come out on different dates,” a trade source says.

— Sanskriti Media