ABHI- ASH W STAY WITH

Even as reports suggest she’s tying the knot with Anand A Sonam Kapoor lets her fans play the guessing game

As the movies — Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavat and R. Balki’s Padman — for screens and theatres on January 25 begins, there is panic in the movie trade. On Monday, theatre chains across the country were not even informed yet about Padmavat’s release plans.

“We have no information on Padmavat releasing on January 25 as yet. We’re waiting for the official announcement,” a leading personnel from a multiplex in Mumbai said. “If this is really true, then we would have to re- structure the entire tentative screening schedule for Republic Day. Ideally, Padmavat would get all the 5,000- odd screens. But now, it will get approximately 2,500 screens. Padman, which would have otherwise got most of the screens, has now to be content with only 2,500 screens.”

“This is madness!” sighs a source very close to Padman. “Why January 25, for God’s sake? They ( Padmavat) can come a week earlier or a week later when there are no significant

releases. Why battle of Republic Day?”

Apparently, the Padman team has initiated an emergency meeting with the Padmavat producers to sort out the matter before the latter movie’s producers Viacom 18 Motion Pictures make their official announcement of their release date.

“We will try to reason with them, make them understand why it’s insane to pitch the two films on the same Friday. If they don’t listen, we’ll still go ahead with our release on January 25,” says the Padman source. Sonam Kapoor and alleged boyfriend Anand Ahuja’s relationship may be oft spoken about in social media, but the Aisha actress likes to keep the fans guessing. Never having spoken publicly about her relationship with Anand, Sonam is also keeping mum about her wedding too.

Reports are rife that Sonam and Anand are to tie the knot in a private ceremony this year, but Sonam chooses not to speak about it. “I never talk about my personal life,” the actress says. “I have been in this industry for 10 years, and I don’t talk about my private life.”

Sonam and Anand are supposedly tying the knot in Jodhpur this April, with only about 300people in tow.

As far as her work goes, Sonam has been busy promoting her next Padman. But quiz her on whether the reported clash with Padmavat will dent chances of her film and she asserts that she is glad for the competition.

The actress says, “Our film is a very simple, sweet one. But I feel competition is needed for all films, and it’s high time that the film ( Padmavat) releases. I feel good cinema is good cinema; I don’t believe in competition. Honestly, I’m just happy that the film is releasing, more than anything else. I hope it does well.” The posh property that Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan have bought in Mumbai is not likely to be used by them. At least not for a very long time. According to sources in the Bachchan family, the new property is only a financial investment and not an emotional one.

The source says, “Abhishek is way too close to his parents to even think about moving out. When he was engaged to Karisma Kapoor in 2002, the relationship came apart mainly because she wanted him to move out of his parents’ home and live separately after marriage. One of the things that drew Abhishek to Aishwarya was her affinity to her parents. She understands what it means to be close emotionally and physically to your parents, and she never demanded a home away from Jalsa ( the Bachchans’ home for the last 20 years).” ad ri bu

n ro an s h

th of of re sa