Veere Di Wedding, Manikarnika release postponed: Could clash with Marvel superhero movies be the reason?

Marvel movies have been shattering box office records world over, including here in India, and Bollywood is getting jittery. Last year, Marvel released four movies: Thor: Ragnarok, Spider-Man: The Homecoming, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and Logan. While Thor: Ragnarok made about 75 crores at the Indian box office, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was able to rope in close to 22 crores. Logan, one of the movies from the X-Men franchise, too performed exceedingly well making about 41 crores at the Indian box-office. And Spider-Man: The Homecoming, 2017’s fifth highest grossing movie worldwide, made close to 73 crores in India. [caption id=“attachment_4306995” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  A still from the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War/Image from YouTube.[/caption] With the superhero movies performing this well in India, Bollywood producers and directors are becoming increasingly hesitant about releasing their movies on the same weekend as one of the Marvel movies. According to a Mumbai Mirror report, Ekta Kapoor, when told that Fox Star Studios had zeroed in on 18 May for Deadpool 2, quickly shifted her all-girl drama Veere Di Wedding, to 1 June. “The first Deadpool was a worldwide success and Ekta did not want to divide her audience. Also, June 1 is her nephew Laksshya’s second birthday and she believes it’s a lucky date,” a spokesperson from Balaji Motion Pictures told Mumbai Mirror. The film features Kareena Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania. [caption id=“attachment_4306993” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Poster for Veere Di Wedding/Image from Twitter.[/caption] Another date that has seen major reshuffling is 27 April. Three movies: Rajinikath-Akshay Kumar-starrer 2.0, Tiger Shroff’s Baaghi sequel, and Kangana Ranaut’s period-drama Manikarnika, were all scheduled to release on the same date, but will now change dates as Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War will also be hitting the screens on the same date. “Baaghi 2 was moved a month ahead to 30 March, while 2.0 was shifted to 14 April. Manikarnika’s release date remains unannounced,” an Indian spokesperson for the Hollywood film told Mumbai Mirror. Only Nikkhil Advani is is willing to go head-to-head with Thor, Iron Man and Captain America. His Saif Ali Khan-starrer Baazaar, directed by Gauravv Chawla, is on schedule.