Sidharth Malhotra on Padman vs Aiyaary: 'We were gracious enough to shift our release date'
Sidharth Malhotra, who is gearing up for the release of Aiyaary, claims the box office clash between his film and Akshay Kumar’s Padman could have been avoided if the situation was handled more efficiently, reports DNA. But now that it's looming large, he only hopes for the best.
Aiyaary poster
Aiyaary, inspired by a the Indian army, was first scheduled to hit the screens on 25 January and enjoy the long Republic Day weekend’s advantage. However, the Neeraj Pandey directorial was clashing with Padman.
Then, the makers of Padmaavat announced that the controversial film was being released on 25 January, too, so team Aiyaary had no choice but to push its release to 9 February in order to avoid clashing with the periodical drama and Padman.
Unfortunately, another twist came when Akshay Kumar decided to support Bhansali and allowed a solo release for Padmaavat by shifting Padman to 9 February. It brought the situation back to square one — an inevitable clash with Aiyaary.
"Yes, it irritates, but now it's too late. What can we do now? Look, we announced the date first. When Padman makers unveiled their release date, we were gracious enough to shift our release date to avoid the clash," Sidharth told DNA, in a recent interview. The actor said that the situation could have been avoided had "people stuck to their dates, respecting others' space".
He says he was not expecting Padman to clash with Aiyaary, that too twice. "We thought we will get a solo release. See, eventually the fate of the film will speak for itself. We are confident about our film. It has its audience. Now that we cannot change anything, we can hope for the best," the actor added.
In Aiyaary, Sidharth Malhotra has been cast as an Army officer who has an ideological difference with another senior rank official, played by Manoj Bajpayee. The film also features Rakul Preet Singh, Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah.
On the other hand, Padman is inspired by the real life story of social entrepreneur and activist Arunachalam Muruganantham, who is credited with improving sanitary hygiene in rural India by inventing a low-cost sanitary napkin machine.
Published Date: Jan 25, 2018 11:45 AM | Updated Date: Jan 25, 2018 11:45 AM
