Sidharth Malhotra: Aiyaary, Pad Man clash could have been avoided

Actor Sidharth Malhotra, who plays a pivotal role in Aiyaary (2018), feels the clash between the movie and Akshay Kumar's Pad Man (2018) could have been avoided. But he says he can only hope for the best now.

Aiyaary, which has a patriotic vibe, was originally slated to be released on 25 January to make the most of the long Republic Day weekend. It was clashing with Pad Man.

But after Padmaavat got a final release date of 25 January, the makers of Aiyaary moved its release to 9 February to avoid clashing with it and Pad Man.

However, Akshay Kumar, as a move in support of Sanjay Leela Bhansali and to let Padmaavat get a solo release, shifted Pad Man to 9 February, bringing the situation back to square one — clashing with Aiyaary.

Asked about it, Sidharth told IANS here: "Yes, it irritates, but now it's too late. What can we do now? Look, we announced the date first. When Pad Man makers unveiled their release date, we were gracious enough to shift our release date to avoid the clash.

"This situation could have resolved earlier, people could have stuck to their dates, respecting others' space. I was not expecting the makers of 'Pad Man' to release their film with us, especially the second time. We thought we will get a solo release.

"See, eventually the fate of the film will speak for itself. We are confident about our film, it has its audience. Now that we cannot change anything, we can hope for the best."

In Aiyaary, Malhotra plays an Army officer who has an ideological difference with another senior officer, played by Manoj Bajpayee. The movie also features Rakul Preet Singh, Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah.