An unwritten rule in the industry is that the one who makes the announcement first retains the first right of arrival.
The big announcement is here! Salman Khan, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Alia Bhatt's Inshallah is being planned for Eid 2020 release. That is as big as it gets as both the superstar actors and the director are at the top of their game. Bhansali is fresh from the success of his triple century maker blockbuster, Padmaavat.
However, there is a catch. For the same date, another big announcement has already been made – Sooryavanshi. This too features a much-awaited actor-director combination – Akshay Kumar and Rohit Shetty. While Akshay has a usual practice of delivering three to four hits every year, Shetty is the numero uno director when it comes to the consistency of his super-successes.
That brings to the fore the battle royale between Inshallah and Sooryavanshi on the festive occasion of Eid next year.
However, the million dollar question is, where are the screens to accommodate both these biggies that are potential blockbusters in the making?
Currently, India has 5000 odd good screens where Hindi films are released. If one adds a few odd screens in the interiors to these, the number stretches to 5500. Ideally, both Inshallah and Sooryavanshi deserve to be screened at over 4000 screens each.
After all, both Inshallah and Sooryavanshi are really big films and need maximum exposure and patronage. Even if one film had to be favored over another, one can't see the ratio shifting from 3000 screens for one film and 2500 for another in the best case scenario.
That said, it is not practically the best case scenario for the industry since the films would lose out an opportunity to score ultra huge had they arrived separately. The films could have gotten anything in excess of 4250 screens each on a solo arrival. However, if there were to be a clash, there would certainly be a comparative loss when it comes to making big moolah.
The obvious question is – which of the two films will move ahead?
Inshallah, just by the very title as well as the fact that Salman Khan features in it, is a perfect recipe for the festive occasion of Eid. For Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Alia Bhatt as well, it would be a welcome festive release. Moreover, Salman Khan fans have been left disappointed by the last two Eid releases – Race 3 and Tubelight – expecting a true entertainer this time around.
On the other hand, Akshay Kumar and Rohit Shetty had already staked a claim for the Eid 2020 arrival many weeks back. They have already started work on the film and are making good progress to make Sooryavanshi one of the best action entertainers of the coming year.
From the team of Bollywood’s quintessential khiladi and the director who has a knack for making action-packed masala entertainers, one expects a cracker of a film.
An unwritten rule in the industry is that the one who makes the announcement first retains the first right of arrival. Also, given the kind of camaraderie between Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan on a personal level, it is also a gentleman's code that is expected to come into play. Hence, it is rather surprising to see the announcement of Inshallah coming close on the heels of Sooryavanshi.
So far, Sooryavanshi has its plans intact to arrive on Eid 2020. Though plans of Inshallah have been just announced, one waits to see if it blinks.
As for the industry as a whole, it would indeed be waiting with bated breath to see the clash getting averted. It is in the best interest for all involved, especially audiences who would definitely be much more excited about watching both these films, albeit separated by a few weeks, to keep the entertainment quotient running.
