John Abraham’s Parmanu to release on May 4, clash with Amitabh Bachchan’s 102 Not Out

The fight between Bollywood actor John Abraham and producers KriArj Entertainment seems to be far from over but the actor doesn’t want his film, Parmanu: The Story of Pokharan, to suffer any more. His JA Entertainment has now announced that the film hit theatres on May 4 when it will clash with Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor-starrer 102 Not Out.

A press statement issued by JA Entertainment said, “Much in line with India’s journey to becoming a nuclear power, our film’s journey to its release has also had its own ups and downs! However, it is perhaps a befitting tribute to the true heroes of our nuclear program- our army and our scientists, that Parmanu is releasing in the same month as we celebrate 20 years of Operation Shakti- India’s nuclear test explosions in Pokhran in May 1998. We are extremely proud of the film and what it stands for and can’t wait to take it to our audience on 4th May, 2018.”

Production houses fight over Parmanu The Story of Pokharan release date: KriArj, John assure film will release soon

The film was originally scheduled to release on December 8, 2017. Its release date got pushed to February 23, 2018 and then to April 6. The latest release date will result in a box office clash between John and Amitabh. JA Entertainment has said via a statement that the delays have been due to KriArj, “JA Entertainment has time and again discussed the marketing campaign for the film with KriArj but the release dates have been pushed at least 3 times, due to delayed payments. Kriarj without our approval has gone out and made statements giving false reasons for the delay. Our repeated follow-ups have only been met with false promises to settle the issue, thus wasting crucial time on the project.”

The statement issued by John Abraham Entertainment over the weekend read, “In the best interest of the film, we have terminated our contract with KriArj Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. and will soon announce the release schedule.” Termination of the agreement by actor John Abraham’s company ‘is valid and legal’. KriArj has committed material breaches which left us with no choice but to terminate in the interest of the film. We would like to state that this extreme step has been taken by us after days of trying to resolve the issues at hand in the best interest of the release of the film. We have fulfilled our commitment at every stage of this project and intimated KriArj in writing from time to time. We have been waiting and asking for payments at every stage.”

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KriArj had also issued a press release claiming, “The allegations made by JA Ent are false and frivolous. The fact that they want to defraud us is amplified from that fact that inspite of payment of almost 30 Crores and Kriarj being fully and naturally willing to promote and release the Film at the earliest they stopped promotions and now want to walk away with the Film without any remorse in such an unethical fashion which is there for all to see. We do not wish to further comment on the ongoing dispute and/or stoop to the levels of JA Ent but would like to state one point. This is not our first film as producers - we have released 5 films successfully in the last year and a half and have lined up another 3 to be released by the end of this year but the other side seems inexperienced as their first film as line producers has still not seen the light of the day till date ... We have already initiated appropriate action against JA Ent and its promoter/s and we reserve our rights to make further statements on this subject until disposition of our claims against JA Ent and its promoter Mr.John Abraham.”

Parmanu- The Story of Pokhran is an ode to the Indian army and scientists, who although ordinary people, accomplished truly extraordinary feats in the face of adversity. It salutes, celebrates and truly embraces the slogan- Jai Jawan Jai Vigyan. While the premise of the film is based on true events, the characters are fictitious.

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