How Karan Johar is taking on Shah Rukh’s Zero

Rohit Shetty’s Simmba is his most expensive film till date and it is also the most expensive solo film for Ranveer Singh specially when it comes to being paired opposite a new heroine. “It is not easy money to recover. So Karan Johar and the distributor Anil Thadani have clearly done a two film deal with the other distributors and sub distributors apart from single screens and some plex owners. The deal goes thus. Thadani and Johar are also involved with 2.0 which will release on November 29 and they have struck a deal with single screen owners that Simmba will get all the important screens exactly a week after Zero’s release. This effectively means that Zero has exactly one week to make good in the single screens,” says our source. Simmba releases on December 28, while Zero arrives on December 21.

But then the cost of Zero is twice that as of Simmba and it will be difficult for SRK and his team despite the presence of other big stars like Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif and the direction of Aanand L Rai to collect huge monies from single screens that soon. “It is going to be tough. Zero will then have to rely on the multiplexes to carry on the box office collection. They have the Christmas week to try and encash, but that won’t be enough,” says a trade expert.

In the meantime, Rohit Shetty had earlier shot with the Golmaal actors in a big to up the ante on his film Simmba. And now he has got his Singham stars too to enter the film.

The film is billed as an entertainer and the entry of these other actors has only made the film a lot bigger than what it was earlier.

What is surprising that both producer Karan as well as producer director Rohit Shetty have a great working relationship with Shah Rukh Khan and this move not just to release Simmba after a week and then blocking the single screens could easily end up sabotaging Zero’s chances of being a big box office hit. Everyone has loved Zero’s trailer, but the film should stay in the theatres for them to see.

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