Aamir Khan's "Dangal" and Salman Khan's "Sultan" may be based on wrestling, but the two have very different premises. However, that certainly doesn't mean one would sabotage the other's release.
Aamir has released the first poster of "Dangal," and it's two days short of "Sultan" release on July 6. "Dangal" isn't out for another six months, which means Aamir could have waited for a few more weeks before revealing his film's poster.
Was this an intentional marketing gimmick or just an innocent coincidence? If recent reports are considered, this could be an effort to steal Salman's thunder. However, there isn't a way to prove these speculations, especially after how the stars have said they have no problems with each other's films.
Origins of the alleged tiff
Apparently, Aamir made heated calls to "Sultan" producer Aditya Chopra after watching the trailer of the movie. His argument reportedly was that highlighting the "dhobi pachhaad" stunt will affect "Dangal" negatively as the latter focuses a lot on the said wrestling move.
"Aamir felt that Aditya had sabotaged his big release this year by planning everything ahead of his film's release. But Aamir's biggest bone of contention with Aditya Chopra was that Salman's trailer showcased the dhobi-pachhaad move of wrestling, which plays a key aspect of his own film," DNA quoted a source as saying. Aamir had even considered delaying the release of his film, thinking that the audience won't be ready to take another sports-drama film after a short time gap.
"Dangal" arrives in theatres on Dec. 23 and stars Sakshi Tanwar, Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra. Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, it is a biopic on senior Olympics coach Mahavir Singh Phogat.
