John Abraham, whose upcoming comedy "Pagalpanti" was also set to release on November 8, has postponed his film to avoid a clash with Sidharth Malhotra and Riteish Deshmukh-starrer "Marjaavaan".
Directed by Milap Milan Zaveri, "Marjaavaan" will now hit the theatres countrywide on November 8 instead of November 22, which has now been taken by John's "Pagalpanti".
"Marjaavaan" has been produced by Bhushan Kumar, Divya Khosla Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Monisha Advani, Madhu Bhojwani and Nikkhil Advani.
John has frequently collaborated with Nikkhil, most recent being last month's "Batla House", and Milap, who directed him in films such as "Shootout at Wadala" and "Satyameva Jayate".
"'Marjaavaan' will benefit from a solo window and Bhushan (Kumar) agreed with me. Milap is a grounded boy and wonderful writer while Nikkhil is a good, solid man for whom friendship is non-negotiable.
"I have worked with directors who have moved on, but Nikkhil understands loyalty and will work with you irrespective of how a film fares. It's important for all of us that 'Marjaavaan' sets the box office on fire," John said in a statement.
Milap said he is grateful to John, calling him a "hero".
"Even though he isn't part of 'Marjaavaan' I know he wants the best for me. Hence I went across nervously to show him the trailer for his opinion. And I was so delighted that he loved it tremendously. He found it very powerful, massy and commercial.
"So much so that when I casually told him I wish 'Marjaavaan' could have a solo release he instantly offered to shift the release of Pagalpanti and allow us to come solo on November 8. Only a true friend would do such a magnanimous and amazing gesture," the director said.
Nikkhil said he is "extremely grateful" to John and "Pagalpanti" team for moving their film from the release date.
"Milap and his team have done a super job bringing this emotional love story to life and I'm sure that with this added advantage of clean release date the audiences will be in for the treat that is expected from the Riteish-Sidharth clash and Milap's staple dialoguebaazi combined with masala maar dhaad," he added.
Bhushan Kumar said, "John has become a family to both T-Series and Emmay. 'Marjaavaan' is a complete commercial action drama that deserves a good weekend. We are grateful John agreed on swapping 'Marjaavaan' and 'Pagalpanti' release dates."
"Marjaavaan" was originally set to release on October 2 but got delayed to pending work on film's VFX. Besides Sidharth and Riteish, the film also features Tara Sutaria and Rakul Preet.
"Pagalpanti", directed by Anees Bazmee and also starring Anil Kapoor, Ileana D'Cruz, Arshad Warsi and Saurabh Shukla, among others, will compete against Ayushmann Khurrana's "Bala" on November 22 release date.
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