Bollywood lies low during upcoming elections

While our films and politics may be intertwined on multiple levels, when it comes to business, Bollywood seems to have chosen to steer clear from the elections. Not even one release has been slated for the day when the election results will be declared. Initially, there were a few films that were eyeing the May 16 slot.

But from the time it was announced that the election results will be declared on the same day, the releases were promptly postponed.

“Many months ago, May 16 was chosen for the arrival of Akshay Kumar’s Fugly, Sajid Nadiadwala’s Heropanti and Himesh Reshammiya’s The Xpose. It was Akshay who was the first one to postpone the release of his film, also because he didn’t want to clash with Sajid’s film, as they are close friends. Then The Xpose was moved ahead by a week and recently Sajid fixed the release date of Heropanti on May 23,” informs a source.

With May 16 being a red-letter day for India, filmmakers, for once, don’t seem keen to compete with politicians. “This time round, the elections have generated a major buzz. People’s minds will be preoccupied with the results and it’s near impossible for films to overpower that, least of all on the day of results,” says a veteran filmmaker.

For an industry which takes pride in releasing at least two films every week with clashes as a norm, Bollywood will be experiencing a silence of a different kind on May 16 — unless, a daredevil filmmaker decides to own the date. And if that happens, there won’t be any filmi competition for sure.