Issue on screens for 'OUATIMD' is unfounded: Shah Rukh

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan says the issue over the allotment of screens
for the release of Ekta Kapoor's 'Once Upon A time In Mumbai Dobaara'
is a little unfounded as 'Chennai Express' producers UTV did make way
for Balaji's request.

Ekta's mother Shobha Kapoor, who
released Akshay Kumar starrer 'Once
Upon...' a week later on August 15, had
expressed disappointment with UTV over the sharing of screens.

Shah Rukh said the commitment from
the producers UTV was well clarified with the makers of 'Once Upon...'
and he was not involved in any discussion.

"We had booked single screen theatres
for two weeks. A desire came from there
(Balaji) that look we are coming on August 15 and can you give us some
theatres. I don't do the business, they
(UTV) said we will give you 40 to 50 per cent(screen space) which we did," Shah
Rukh told PTI in an interview.

"Our film was earlier supposed to release on Thursday, it then got
shifted to Friday, a week means seven days and everyone has the right
to run their film for seven days. So seven days got over and we gave
them the theatres on Friday. If there is an issue or complaint about
this, I think it is little unfounded," he said.

The makers of 'Once Upon...' had pushed
the release date of their film to August
15 to avoid a clash with 'Chennai Express'
at SRK's request.

There were media reports that Ekta was
assured by the production house that
they will withdraw their film on August
15 to make way for 'OUATIMD' in at least
2,000 halls across the country.

"I think sometimes when you talk about
the business part then you start taking
my name because I stand for the
business part of Red Chillies or I am the
face of this film. I don't think there is any
reason, as far as UTV is concerned, to have an issue with Balaji. As far as I
am concerned I was not part of the
business," Shah Rukh said.

Last year, Ajay Devgn and Yash Raj Films
also had a similar issue over the number
of screens alloted for the release of 'Son
of Sardaar' and late Yash Chopra's 'Jab
Tak Hai Jaan'.

Ajay had alleged that YRF used its
dominant position following which his
movie ('Son of Sardaar') was unable to
find enough single screen theatres for
exhibition.

Recollecting the matter, Shah Rukh said,
"Yashji had expired and 'Son of Sardaar'
was coming, Ajay is a friend... I could
have gone and requested him that out of
respect do it(change the release date).
But I did not.

"Everybody has the right to release the
film as and when they wish to. I don't
think this 'OUATIMD' was a small film, I
don't think it was backed by small
producers. They had the right to release
it when they wanted. If they wanted to release it on August 8, God bless them
and if they wanted to release it on
August 15, their decision," he said.

When asked if what the makers of
'OUATIMD' were doing was unfair, the
actor said, "No, not at all, you have a
platform to say what you have to. They
might be feeling it that way."

Shah Rukh is happy with the response his
film is garnering at the box office. "I knew it was a holiday period. I think
every film that comes around this time
will have a little benefit of Eid,
Independence day or Raksha Bandhan.
We were little anxious but we knew we
had a good product. But we had not expected this
kind of love and acceptance," he said.

"This level of acceptance... it happens
magically. We can't calculate such things
in advance. We did not know 'Dilwale
Dulhaniya Le Jayenge' will be loved for 18
years. Kajol, Adi and me did not know
that it will do so well," he said. Shah Rukh says he never keeps a tab on
box office collection but with the kind of
response Rohit Shetty directed 'Chennai
Express' is garnering it is becoming
unavoidable for him to not pay attention
to the figures.

The 'King Khan' is happy that even his
children Aryan and Suhana have loved the
film.

"I never talk acting or films at home,
neither they do. So when they start liking
something it feels really great. I feel very
proud when they like my work. My son
saw the film 'Chennai Express' with 40 of
his friends and they all liked it. Normally, my kids don't discuss or
talk about my
films at home but this film they discussed
a lot and I am thrilled they did it," he
added.