Abhishek Kapoor finally speaks up on Kedarnath-SRK, Aanand L Rai's film clash

There have been reports about an alleged fall-out between director Abhishek Kapoor and his producer Prernaa Arora. Apparently, Prernaa is against releasing Kedarnath, the film featuring Sushant Singh Rajput and Saif’s daughter Sara Ali Khan, on December 21 2018, the date on which the new Shah Rukh Khan-starrer directed by Aanand L. Rai is scheduled for release.

However, reports say, Abhishek is insistent. The filmmaker took time off from his shooting at Film City in Mumbai to have his say. He says, “This is so pointless. We announced the release date of Kedarnath long ago. We didn’t jump into it just because I wanted to compete with Shah Rukh Khan’s film. My producers are very much on the same page as me.”

He defends that it is common for big releases to launch on the same Friday. He says, “I see no problem in releasing Kedarnath on the same Friday as the Anand film with Shah Rukh. Two big films being released on the same Friday is not uncommon anymore. There are only 52 Fridays to choose from. There are bound to be clashes. Why not see the co-existence of two films on the same Friday as a chance for the audience to see two good films? I am pretty sure Kedarnath and the other film will find their audience.”

The filmmaker refutes that sticking to his guns will earn him the reputation of an arrogant and difficult filmmaker. “Some people may feel I’ve temporarily lost the right to be assertive over what I think to be right, because my last film Fitoor didn’t work. But I am very proud of Fitoor. I made the film that I wanted to. It didn’t work because it didn’t connect with the audience. I will continue to shoot as I think right. We are half way through the film. We should be done by June 2018 and then we’ll ready the film for release in December 2018.”

Abhishek is all praise for his lead pair in Kedarnath. “Sushant Singh Rajput whom I directed in Kai Po Che has evolved beautifully. As for Sara Ali Khan, she is glorious. She will take the nation by storm.  Let the film release — all the complaints will stop.”