Riteish Dehmukh has rubbished rumours that Yash Raj Films advanced the release date of Shuddh Desi Romance to avoid a clash with Grand Masti, which is scheduled for a September 13 release.
He said that Shuddh Desi Romance is supposed to premiere at a film festival and that is why the release date has been shifted to September 6 from September 13.
"What I know is that Shuddh Desi Romance is supposed to be premiered at some film festival and that is the reason they (the makers of the film) have shifted the date. This is what I have read and want to believe this," the 34-year-old said on Monday at a radio station where he was promoting Grand Masti.
"Every film has its own strength and Yash Raj has never let go of its dates. But they did so this time because of the festival," he added.
Riteish's Grand Masti co-stars Aftab Shivdasani and Vivek Oberoi were also present with him. Shuddh Desi Romance stars Sushant Singh Rajput, Parineeti Chopra and newcomer Vaani Kapoor.
Talking about the box office business when two films release together, Riteish gave the example of Chennai Express and Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbai Dobaara!.
"If Chennai Express and Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbai Dobaara had released on the same date, then the record-breaking collection that Chennai Express has done would have been doubtful," Riteish said.
"But it's great that both films decided to release on different dates as this will help the films and the audience," he added.
Initially, Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbai Dobaara and Chennai Express were supposed to have an Eid release, but the producers of both the films decided to shift dates.
Chennai Express released on August 9 and became the fastest film to cross the Rs 100 crore mark. Source-ndtv.com Learn more »

Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone in a still from Chennai Express
The Shah Rukh Khan-Deepika Padukone starrer Chennai Express has become a huge hit in Karachi.
The Rohit Shetty directorial movie eclipsed all other releases on Eid day by a big margin in Pakistan, the Dawn newspaper reported.
"Being Pakistanis, we like to promote our films. Therefore, we ran Ishq Khuda for two days but it didn't attract sufficient audiences," said Aziz Khan, general manager of Capri cinema.
"On the other hand, Chennai Express is doing a roaring business from the first show."
Anita Kenneth, head of marketing at Atrium Cinema, added: "From day one ... Chennai Express has been sold out."
"It's a typical Rohit Shetty comedy and masala movie. Then, of course, the glamorous Deepika Padukone is in the movie. Source-ndtv.com Learn more »

Fox Studios have announced there will be three sequels to Avatar, after director James Cameron found two films “would not be enough,” reports daily star.

The three sequels will be filmed simultaneously beginning in 2014, and will be released respectively in December 2016, 2017 and 2018.

The 2009 3D film is the highest grossing movie of all time. It told the story of a paraplegic soldier sent to the alien planet of Pandora.

“In writing the new films, I’ve come to realize that Avatar’s world, story and characters have become even richer than I anticipated,” Cameron said in a statement. “It became apparent that two films would not be enough to capture everything I wanted to put on screen,” he continued. Learn more »

A low-budget movie no one in South Africa is allowed to see has become the most talked-about film of the year.For the first time since apartheid ended in 1994, regulators banned a local feature film, saying the movie Of Good Report contained child pornography, reports Hindustan times.

This halted its screening this month at the Durban International Film Festival. The film's director and movie critics have likened the ban to apartheid-era censorship, saying the film, which examines the abuse of girls by older men, hit a nerve in a country where patriarchal rule dominates wide sections of society.

The ban has raised worries about self-censorship in the local industry, where film-makers battle for scant funding for films that often take on tough questions about race, sexuality and the damage caused by apartheid. "There is this branch of very brave film-makers who are making remarkable works and often they are deeply uncomfortable works. This is something that South Africans have become particularly good at," said Peter Machen, art critic and manager of the Durban film festival.

The Film and Publication Board, a government-affiliated regulator, objected to a scene in Of Good Report where the character of a 16-year-old-girl has sex with a teacher. Board spokesman Prince Mlimandlela Ndamase said the four regulators had all decided that the film was pornographic. "The government calls us pornographers when we bring light to social issues," the film's director Jahmil XT Qubeka told Reuters on Tuesday.

"I cry this beloved country because we are in trouble." The movie has dominated radio and TV talk shows and social media since the ban came to light this week. Many commentators have said the board was working in a way similar to the former apartheid regime by banning an art work that brought attention to a little-discussed social problem. They also questioned how the board could classify the movie as child pornography when the legal age of consent is 16 and the actress in the sex scene is 23 in real life.

Ferial Haffajee, editor of the influential weekly City Press, tweeted: "Last year, we had to spend a lot of time with the censors of the Film & Publication Board. They were dopes. Still are." An appeals panel found the board had overstepped its bounds last year when it restricted viewing of a politically charged artwork that showed President Jacob Zuma standing with his genitals exposed in a pose reminiscent of Soviet-era leaders. The producer of Of Good Report has appealed the ban and hopes the film can be shown before the Durban festival ends on Sunday.

But the ban has also won the film international attention, which is likely to translate into screenings at film festivals outside South Africa. The movie could join the likes of other local films that have won international acclaim for unnerving topics, such as Skoonheid - Afrikaans for Beauty - about a white bigot in his 40s fighting to suppress his homosexuality. Learn more »