Hrithik Roshan-starrer "Super 30" will hit the screens as scheduled on July 26, the makers have confirmed amidst hullabaloo that its release date may be changed due to a clash with Kangana Ranaut's "Mental Hai Kya".
"There is no change in the release date of 'Super 30'. The film will hit screens on July 26, 2019," a post from the official Twitter handle of production banner Reliance Entertainment.
Shibashish Sarkar of Reliance Entertainment told IANS that "there's no merit in the gossip" surrounding the film's release.
The buzz began after the release date of "Mental Hai Kya", which also features Rajkummar Rao, was pushed from June 21 to July 26.
It's almost reminiscent of a box office clash that was to be between Hrithik and Kangana when her "Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi" was locked for release on January 25, the same date when "Super 30" was to be out.
But while "Super 30" did not see the light of the day on that date due to pending production work after director Vikas Bahl was named in the #MeToo movement, Kangana's "Manikarnika..." released.
For the uninitiated, the two were involved in a row which began after Kangana hinted at Hrithik being her "ex-boyfriend". What followed was an exchange of legal complaints and mud-slinging.
The grapevine has it that Kangana recommended that the release date of "Mental Hai Kya" be changed so that a box office face-off with Hrithik is possible.
However, a statement on behalf of Balaji Motion Pictures has said the decision has been taken for "better box office prospects" for "Mental Hai Kya".
"The shift in the release date is a decision taken after recommendations from the distributors, trade analysts and a top research team, keeping in mind the other releases a week before and after this date. We have thus been advised to shift the release date of our movie to July 26, purely for business prospects.
"On knowing that there is already a movie scheduled for a release on that date, we did everything in our purview to ensure the other parties that there will be no mud slinging and it will be a dignified release. We stand by assuring to all other parties," read the statement.
"Super 30" will see Hrithik take on the role of real life mathematics wizard Anand Kumar, who teaches 30 meritorious and talented candidates each year from economically backward sections for the entrance examination for the Indian Institute of Technology. The actor has been upbeat about playing a man from Bihar, and flaunts a simpleton's look for the movie.