Battle at the box office

Salman Khan is normally the first in the film fraternity to book Eid to release his movies but this year, it seems that two other stars have beaten the actor to it — none other than Akshay Kumar and Shah Rukh Khan.

While Shah Rukh’s much-anticipated ‘Chennai Express’, in which he acts opposite Deepika Padukone, is going to release on that date, Akshay isn’t far behind. Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai. Again starring Akshay along with Sonakshi Sinha and Imran Khan, is all set to hit the silver screen on Eid as well. 

Akshay, however, isn’t in the least bothered by this competition. “I see this in a positive way. Eid is a big day. It is big enough for two films. There is no point in thinking too much over it,” Akshay says candidly. Eid falls in August. 

In this sequel, Akshay will be seen taking forward the character that was originally played by Emraan Hashmi in the original. However, he’s quick to assert that he isn’t trying to compare his performance with Emraan’s. “I am just playing my role. I haven’t thought of it as a benchmark. I just listened to my director. I never thought that I had to cross any benchmark,” he explains, adding that the film is very different from anything he has done in the past.