The Padmavat(i) Effect: Pari Postponed

The snowball  effect  of the Padmavat(i) postponement continues. After Neeraj Pandey’s Aiyaary   shifted  from January 25(the new release date  for Padmavat)  to February 9, the producers Anushka Sharma and  Prernaa Arora  of the supernatural thriller Pari which  was to open on February 9 have shifted their film to March 2.

 Speaking  on the shift Prernaa Arora says, “We’ve absolutely no ego problems  in accommodating  other films’s releases even if it means we’ve to  move our release , it’s fine. Success or failure doesn’t depend on when you release, but the quality of  your product.  Due to the repeated  postponements  in the Padmavat release there’s a bottleneck of  releases. If Aiyaary has shifted  from January 25 to February 9  and there is Luv Ranjan’s Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety  already scheduled  for  February 9, we’ve no problems in moving ahead. The Holi week is  a  fabulous time to release a good film. And Anushkha and I  believe we’ve  a very special film in Pari. It will be her first release after marriage and therefore doubly special. We don’t want to spoil it by releasing alongside a tumble of releases.”

Regarding PadMan of which Prernaa is also a co-producer she says, “We’re going ahead with the release alongside Padmavati  in January 25. It’s a holiday weekend and  therefore big enough to accommodate two big films.We’re confident that  both the films will  find its audience.”

However Prernaa is  quick to point out that there has been no official announcement  from the producers of Padmavat about the release date. “We are  going on  kahi-suni baatein(hearsay). I haven’t seen any official announcement about a January  25 release  from Viacom 18 Motion Pictures.But whenever Padmavati releases,  we will be happy to see its smooth release and success.  Let’s remember, what has happened with Padmavati can happen to any of us. Let’s work as one big family in this industry. It’s the only way we can fight the attacks from the outside.”