The biggest box office clash of 2024 happened this Diwali between director Anees Bazmee's Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 and Rohit Shetty's Singham Again. Both movies were successful, but before their release, there was tension between the two teams. In an interview, T-Series chief Bhushan Kumar shared that he, along with Ajay Devgn and Rohit Shetty, tried hard to avoid the clash. However, they couldn’t find a solution because of prior commitments.
Before the release of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 and Singham Again, the team of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 raised concerns about unfair screen allocation. Bhushan Kumar explained that they didn’t take the matter to the Competition Commission but had many disagreements with the Singham Again team over this issue. He said that both films were equally big according to surveys, so they asked for a 50-50 screen split. However, there was some personal bias behind the unfair allocation, though he didn’t want to blame the theater chains. Even though the theater chains were also distributing Singham Again, they still tried to support Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 as much as they could, leading to a lot of back-and-forth.
He further explained, " Eventually, I suggested starting the advance booking and seeing the response, because our film was buzzing. Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 managed to have a Rs 36 crore-plus opening opposite a big film in competition. We had our tussle over it, but in the end, it all got normalised. Both the films were doing very well. It got a little unpleasant, but they also assured me that they wouldn’t let my film bear lose. When they saw the result, they also helped us."
Bhushan Kumar also met the team of Singham, talking about the incident he said, " I even met Ajay Devgn and Rohit Shetty. I told them, I had announced the film first and had some commitments to OTT platforms which is why I could not push the film. They understood, but they also had their limitations as the film’s theme was inspired by Ramayana so they could not miss the Diwali release, they also had commitments. Both parties had their limitations, but Ajay sir was very positive about it. We both tried to avoid the clash, but the situation was unavoidable. If I shifted the film, Bhool Bhulaiyya 3 would have been released next year on OTT, upsetting their budget."
He further stated that, In the future, two big films should not clash, since it affects the business." Both Singham Again and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 have performed well at the box office. Singham Again has earned over Rs 150 crore domestically, while Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 has crossed Rs 200 crore in collections.
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