Padman director R Balki on postponing film's release for Padmaavat: 'Least we could've done'

Mumbai: When Sanjay Leela Bhansali approached the Padman team requesting to shift their release date to give a clear release window to his Padmaavat, he looked shaken and troubled, says director R Balki. [caption id=“attachment_4297801” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  R Balki. Image from Twitter/@buzzdreamz[/caption] Balki, who has directed Padman, said agreeing to Bhansali’s request was the least they could have done for a fellow fraternity member, who has gone through a tumultuous time to release his movie. Padman actor Akshay Kumar held a press conference last week with Bhansali, announcing the decision to move Padman to a 9 February release rather than a 25 January clash with Padmaavat. “It was a decision taken almost instantaneously by all of us in the Padman team when Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Viacom 18, the producers of Padmaavat, approached us with the request that we move. It didn’t take us a minute to agree to their request. It’s the least we could do for a project that has gone through so much. Padmaavat needs the Republic Day slot more than us. We don’t mind moving ahead by two weeks because we know whenever we come, we have a winning project on hand,” Balki said. He added: “Sanjay Bhansali looked so shaken and troubled. My heart reached out to him. Isn’t it about time we in the film industry stopped projecting an impression of a divided house? At the end of the day, all of us filmmakers belong to same fraternity. Of course, we have to be selfish about our own film. But not at the expense of someone else’s film. We can’t say, ‘Usski film gayi bhaad mein (to hell with their film)”. Because if someone else’s film gets into trouble, we must remind ourselves that the trouble could befall our film also." Balki is confident about his film’s release date. “’Padman is meant to start a debate on menstrual hygiene. Akshay Kumar’s last release Toilet: Ek Prem Katha had carried forward an important debate on toilet amenities. But in our case, the debate on menstrual hygiene will be started with Padman. No one talks about menstrual matters. We didn’t want that debate to be caught in the crossfire of controversies. We would rather come a little later than clash with a film which desperately needs to be released. Padmaavat was destined come solo. I hope it stands tall and I wish it glorious success.”