August 30, 2010 (Sampurn Wire): Excitement of Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai clashing in theaters would have to be kept on hold for some other day. Reason being that Ash’s ‘Robot’ (with Rajnikanth in the lead), which was supposed to be released on 10 September (the same day as Salman’s ‘Dabangg’), has now been moved to a later day. Indications are that the film would now arrive on 24th September.

Says a trade observer, “The makers of ‘Robot’ have been holding the release plans of the film pretty close to their heart. However, trade was getting enough hints that the film would arrive along with ‘Dabangg’. With festive season (Eid) at its peak around this time, both the films wanted to make the best of this period.”

No wonder, the latest twist in the tale has turned out to be quite surprising. Though one waits to get further confirmation from the makers, it is being said that the release date has been moved to accommodate certain patchwork required in ‘Robot’. However, what cannot be ruled out is the fact that ‘Dabangg’ is carrying massive hype and ‘Robot’, which is also releasing in Hindi, would have been definitely impacted with the clash.

Arbaaz Khan, producer of ‘Dabangg’, is underplaying the entire episode though. “Even I had heard earlier that ‘Robot’ was coming on the same date as ‘Dabangg’. However, I wasn’t worried because this date (around Eid) falls at such a good time that two big films can release simultaneously. There is place for everyone.”

Though this indeed sounds diplomatic, Arbaaz can’t deny the fact that a clash would have led to causality, especially due to the past shared between Salman and Ash. With media expected to pick this single point as a headline material, he would have been wary of this fact, isn’t it?

“That depends upon the way you choose to project it, right”, smiles Arbaaz, “Ultimately people make their own choices and better film will stand tall. Of course one film, whether ours or theirs would have suffered a bit had there been a clash. One can’t stop another film from releasing on the same date. You don’t own a date. We have worked hard on our film. We never had any intentions of changing our plans.”

However, with change in plans for ‘Robot’, Arbaaz can be rest assured that ‘Dabangg’ gets the cleanest run possible for a big release this September.

– Joginder Tuteja / Sampurn Wire