The signs are ominous. Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha haven’t spoken a single word about the release date flip-flop of Joker. At the time when they should be celebrating the continued run of Rowdy Rathore, they are finding themselves in the middle of a situation where they are hearing different plans every other week.
“They are definitely upset with the way different announcements have been made during last couple of weeks”, informs a source, “It is apparent that there is added vigour due to Akshay-Sonakshi being a hot pair after the success of Rowdy Rathore. However there has to be certain stability around the plans; after all they too have to formulate their schedules accordingly.”
They have a point here because the biggest hurdle expected during the promotion of Joker is the lack availability of the lead pair itself. Reason being that both Akshay and Sonakshi would be off to the Gulf for the shooting of Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai 2.
“The entire cast and crew of Once Upon A Time…. would be away from the country in not just August but even early part of September”, the source adds, “There would be no one around for the entire month to promote the film. In the times when road shows and city tours are a must, especially for a film like Joker which needs an added push due to its unique narrative and a different genre, the very fact that a release date has been chosen when Akshay and Sonakshi won’t be in the country to talk about the film is very disappointing.”
This is where September release plan still made some sense at least since the actors would have returned just in time to at least give one week to the film’s active promotion. However as things stand today, it may all happen on a remote basis now, provided they get time out of their hectic shooting schedule.
Says a source attached to the film on condition of anonymity, “If neither Akshay nor Sonakshi are in town, are they expecting second leads Shreyas Talpade and Minissha Lamba to front face the film’s promotion? Okay, so the film has been sold at a win-win price of under Rs.40 crores but that doesn’t mean one should be content just by recovering it. It is such a well made film by Shirish and definitely requires to be nurtured so that it can flourish. If the situation would have been handled a little more sensitively and Akshay-Sonakshi were available, the film would have definitely gained further impetus.
