Rakesh Roshan-Prakash Jha Join Hands
By SAMPURNMonday, February 22, 2010
February 22, 2010 (Sampurn Wire): Kites and Raajneeti are the two most crucial releases in remaining part of the first-half of 2010.The films’ producers Rakesh Roshan and Prakash Jha are currently close friends in the film industry, so much so, that Jha decided to shift the release of Raajneeti from May 28 to June 4 on Rakesh Roshan’s advice. Rakesh Roshan’s Kites (directed by Anurag Basu) is being released on 21 May.
Explains Prakash, “Both Rakesh ji and I felt there should be clear gap of two weeks between Kites and Raajneeti. Earlier I was to release the film just a week after. But in case of a big film like Kites the multiplex theatres don’t know till Wednesday if they would like to change films on Friday. I wanted to avoid the scheduling confusion. I sat down with Rakesh ji and we decided it was better that I postpone by a week because there’s no big release after Raajneeti until Mani Ratnam’s Raavan.”
Rakesh Roshan adds, “I think more filmmakers need to work in close consultation to avoid films overlapping and cutting into one another’s market. Prakash Jha and I have been discussing our films’ release. And we mutually decided he should release a fortnight after my film.”
What happens to the release of Raajneeti if Kites gets postponed again?
Rakesh Roshan discounts that possibility. “We can’t postpone the 21 May release because the English version is being released simultaneously.”
What if Kites becomes a big hit? Would that affect Raajneeti’s opening?
“No way!” says Prakash Jha. “Kites is a love story. Raajneeti is a political drama.”
One point of similarity between the two films is that the leading men of both films are paired opposite Caucasian heroines. Hrithik Roshan shares screen space with Barbara Mori
while Ranbir Kapoor ignites the screen with Sarah Thomson.
While Rakesh Roshan insists there’s no sex in Kites, Prakash Jha says Ranbir and Sarah share torrid moments in Raajneeti.
Rakesh says, “Ours is a clean family entertainer. It’s a love story with no sex in it. When have I ever produced films with torrid sex scenes?”
-Subhash K Jha/ Sampurn Wire
