Films will work if they resonate with audiences: Vicky Kaushal on ‘Sam Bahadur’ and ‘Animal’ box office clash

PTI

Mumbai, October 13

It’s not a box office clash but a day of celebration for the audiences, says actor Vicky Kaushal on sharing the release date of “Sam Bahadur” with Ranbir Kapoor’s “Animal”.

“Sam Bahadur”, directed by Meghna Gulzar, is a biopic on Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, one of India’s greatest war heroes with Kaushal playing the titular character.

Kapoor’s “Animal” is directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga of “Kabir Singh” fame. Both these films will release on December 1.

“On that Friday, we both are going to hand over our films to the audience. So, that Friday is going to be the audience’s day more than our day. We have only these many weeks in a year, but we as an industry can’t limit ourselves to making only those many films a year.

“We want to build an atmosphere where multiple films can work together. We have that strength in the audience and at the exhibitor level. If the audience resonates with the films, both the films will work,” the 35-year-old actor told reporters at the teaser launch press conference of “Sam Bahadur”.

Kaushal, who worked with Kapoor in “Sanju”, said the industry will flourish if multiple films are given the option to release on the same day.

“I’m as excited for ‘Animal’ as anyone else. It should be a great day for the audience, we work for that, not for each other,” he said.

“Sam Bahadur” producer Ronnie Screwvala said audiences also enjoy watching multiple films on the same day.

“We announced the release date of our film almost a year back on December 1, 2022. Talking about the clash is an old thing now. Actually, audiences come out more (when there is box office clash), they like the choice. The films are clashing because it's a whole world out there,” the producer said.

Asked about wife Katrina Kaif’s upcoming film, “Merry Christmas”, releasing one week after “Sam Bahadur”, Kaushal said it's a great spot to be in.

“She's (Katrina) excited for my film and I'm also excited for hers. She doesn't just have one film ('Merry Christmas') after my movie, she has one film (Tiger 3) two weeks before mine! So I'm sandwiched between her films and that's a great spot to be,” he said.

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