This year, the Independence Day weekend will witness the clash of two titans at the box office. While Akshay Kumarand Neeraj Pandey’s collaboration, ‘Toilet – Ek Prem Katha’ will release on August 11, Shah Rukh Khan’s Imtiaz Ali directorial co-starring Anushka Sharma has also been scheduled to open in cinemas on the same date.
ncidentally, it was Akshay who had first staked claim on the date. After release of ‘Rustom’ in August, he had announced that his film, ‘Crack’, will hit screens on August 11. However, with ‘Crack’ getting delayed, the actor and his filmmaker friend reclaimed the date with ‘Toilet – Ek Prem Katha’, which was originally scheduled for a June 2 release. Later, in November last year, Salman Khan announced August 11 as the release date for his buddy SRK’s movie.
A source associated with Akshay and Neeraj’s films tells BT, “The other producers of this film, Prerna Arora and Arjun N Kapoor, also felt that ‘Toilet – Ek Prem Katha’ is more suitable for the Independence Day weekend. Taking into view the Prime Minister’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, everyone felt that it will connect with people across strata and ages. And, as the title suggests, the film is also a love story.”
A face-off between Akshay and SRK was averted four years ago, when the producers of the former’s ‘Once Upon A Time In Mumbai Dobaraa’ deferred its release by a week to avoid a clash with King Khan’s ‘Chennai Express’.
