Sandalwood to see superstar clash after 13 years

It's a war of the stars!

Darshan in 'Kurukshetra'.

Unlike other film industry, it’s rare for Kannada audience to see stars clash at the box office. However, films of two top stars are set to hit the screen on the same day in August.

The makers of ‘Kurukshetra’ starring challenging star Darshan and ‘Pailwan’ starring Kiccha Sudeep are scheduled to be released during the Varamahalakshmi festival.

The moviemakers consider the day auspicious and there are examples where most of the movies going on floors or after being released on the festival day have clinched gold at the box office.

Incidentally, in February 2006, Sandalwood witnessed the star clash between the same actors, when ‘My Autograph’ and ‘Suntaragali’ of Kiccha Sudeep and Darshan respectively hit the screens on the same day. Both the movies did a decent business at the box office despite competition.

However, the situation is not the same after 13 years as Sandalwood has seen many changes in terms of competition, the number of movies released every week, the number of single screens and others.

“As both the films are of top stars, there will be a huge demand for the screens. As there is a reduction in the number of single screens in Gandhinagara and other parts of states, the moviemakers will find it tough to find the screens,” said a top distributor from Gandhinagara, who is willing to bag the distribution rights for one of the movies.

“Even if they are successful in getting the equal number of screens, retaining it for over a week will be another challenge. Also, reviews play a dominant role now,” the distributor added.

‘Kurukshetra’ is touted to be the highest budget movie ever made in Sandalwood, and ‘Pailwan’ is a multilingual film that will be simultaneously released in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi beside Kannada.

When ‘Pailwan’ director Krishna was asked about the expected competition, he said: “We have just announced the release date. We have not thought much about the screens and the competition part.” However, the producer of ‘Kurukshetra’ Munirathna Naidu was unavailable for comment.