Films in Bollywood release as per an unspecified routine. The five big superstars namely – Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, and Ajay Devgn all have their favourite holidays on which they try to release their films. However, Independence Day in 2019 is going to be a major release day for Bollywood at the box office, because not one or two but four big films are scheduled to release on this day.
The slot has been locked by Akshay for the last two years with Toilet: Ek Prem Katha and Gold releasing in 2017 and 2018 respectively. Next year, the actor’s film on India’s Mars Orbiter Mission Mission Mangal is slated to release. However, it will not be the sole release on the day. It will lock horns with Dinesh Vijan’s quirky comedy Made in China starring Rajkummar Rao and Mouni Roy, Nikkhil Advani’s real-life thriller Batla House that features John Abraham in the lead and Prabhas’s Saaho.
Apparently, Ayan Mukerji’s Brahmastra had first claimed the slot but now the film is out of the race as it has been postponed further and is slated for a Christmas 2019 release. The film stars Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt in the lead. The four films that are heading for a clash are in different genres and do not overlap each other in any way, so even if they do release on the same day they will all cater to different audiences. In fact, this year Akshay's Gold and John's Satyameva Jayate clashed at the box office during the Independence Day week.
Nevertheless, if the four films do release on the same date it will be a bonanza for the audience as they will get more options to choose from. However, R Balki who is co-producing Akshay’s Mission Mangal told a leading daily that it is “too early” to say if the makers of all four films would meet at some point to avoid the four-way clash.
