Bollywood looks beyond Diwali for Box office gold

Three years ago, Diwali was considered Bollywood's big-ticket week, with most producers scrambling to get films ready in time for the industry's most important moviegoing season. Not any more.

Now, rather than clash with other big releases, many producers and filmmakers are opting for post-Diwali releases.

"It's a misconception that people watch movies during Diwali. There is puja at home, there are people to meet and watching a movie might not always be on the cards," says filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, whose 2007 Diwali release "Saawariya" sank at the box-office.

Bhansali said the film might have fared better if not released during the festival season, where it was pitted against Farah Khan's blockbuster "Om Shanti Om". Both filmmakers are ready with their new projects this year -- neither are opening on Diwali.

While Bhansali's "Guzaarish", starring Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, releases two weeks after Diwali, Farah Khan's "Tees Maar Khan" -- with Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif -- opens on Christmas Eve.