Padmaavat vs Padman clash affecting smaller films, says My Birthday Song director Sameer Soni

As Padmaavat cleared all the legal barriers and is now all set to release during the Republic Day week , a number of small budget films are left out with almost no screen options and the filmmakers are nervous about the same. While the clash between Padman and Padmaavat is being discussed widely, other films slated to release around the same time stand less chances to succeed. [caption id=“attachment_4283943” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Poster of My Birthday Song[/caption] Samir Soni, the actor-turned-director, is left in a similar dilemma as his film,  My Birthday Song , is releasing next week on 19 January. Samir has already been told by the distributors that his film will not be given screens during the second week when Padmaavat and Padman are releasing. “My Birthday Song is a small-budget film and when we had announced the release date, there was no Padmaavat. But, now that the period film and Padman are opening in cinemas on the same day, my film — even if it is coming a week before — is hard-pressed to find any screens amidst these big movies,” Samir told DNA. The same report states that according to Soni, though his film a psychological thriller, has a strong story and can attract the audience, he thinks it would need time to spread the word of mouth and film reviews to create a good impression as My Birthday Song has no heavyweight star in it. He also said his friends from the industry, including his Baghban co-stars Salman Khan and Amitabh Bachchan, have been kind and shared a good feedback. “It’s not about whether the film is good or bad but about getting screens. We feel bad for what happened with Padmavaat but I feel the chain reaction of its release date is affecting small budget films like ours,” Soni added, in his interview to DNA.