Anjaana Anjaani’s Dabangg jitters

The makers of Anjaana Anjaani are at present a worried lot. In a four-hour, closed-door meeting on Saturday afternoon, between Sajid Nadiadwala and the film’s co-producers, Eros Entertainment, two definite realisations were as follows: there is no point in postponing the release date despite the Babri Masjid verdict; and that Dabangg is not disappearing from theatres.

As a heads-up to this, producer Sajid Nadiadwala has now decided to pump in  approximately Rs 5 crore extra into the publicity and marketing machinery of his product.

Says a source close to Anjaana Anjaani, “We slotted our film two weeks after Dabangg. We never thought it would continue to be this strong. Huge amounts of money and time are going into the marketing of Anjaana Anjaani. Ranbir and Priyanka are doing  their publicity events on a  war footing.”

Director Siddharth Anand played down these anxieties though. “I’d like to believe that the success of Dabangg means good news and better business for Anjaana Anjaani.

People are now in the mood to return to theatres. And who says two films can’t do well simultaneously? In 2006, there were big films one after the other every two weeks. And all of them did well.

God willing, people would want to watch our film because after Dabangg they’re in the mood to visit theatres.”

Producer Sajid Nadiadwala confirms, “We did consider withdrawing Anjaana Anjaani because the court’s decision on Babri Masjid-Ayodhya is on the day of our release.

Priyanka Chopra and Ranbir Kapoor during the promotion of Anjaana Anjaani

However the international prints to countries as far-flung as Germany have already gone. We’ve spent a fortune on marketing and publicity. Our hoardings are up.

There are 40 of them in Mumbai and we’ve the right to have them up for a limited period. Yes, we are spending a substantially extra amount on promotions this week, because it is impossible to hold back the release.

The producers are also piggy-backing on the Commonwealth Games, slated for October 3. “We will have dignitaries from all over the world. The government can’t afford any untoward incident in the country,” says Sajid.