By Arundhuti Banerjee
Bengaluru, Nov 9 (IANS) Celebrated Kannada actor Yash, who will be seen in the multilingual film "KGF" -- which stands for "Kolar Gold Fields" -- which is releasing along with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's "Zero" on December 21, says both films can survive in the theatre alongside.
Asked if the date clash could affect the business of the film, Yash told the media here during the launch of the trailer of "KGF": "I strongly believe that there is enough space for two films to survive, not one film can acquire the whole country.
"Yes, 'Zero' is a big anticipated film but we are releasing the film in five languages. So we had to have a date that is suitable for all the languages. We had to think about all the distributors.
"December 21 seems to be the date suitable for all, so we decided to release on that day. I know we will have a big competition in Hindi, but I think it is okay. The movie is good, so it will have its own strength," added the actor, who said he is a huge fan of Shah Rukh.
Since "KGF" is a big budget Kannada film getting a pan India release, its cast and the crew released the trailer on Friday on the occasion of the birth anniversary of celebrated Kannada filmmaker Shankar Nagarakatte.
The Hindi release will be distributed by Excel Entertainment and AA Films. Though Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani from Excel Entertainment could not attend the launch event, they sent their good wishes through a video message.
"KGF" is directed by Prashanth Neel and produced by Vijay Kiragandur. It will be released in five languages including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi and Malayalam.
The film also features the Miss Supernational 2016 Srinidhi Shetty along with Yash.
The story of the film revolves around a gold mine and is set between the 1970s and 1980s era in Mumbai.
Sharing the process of the film's writing, the director said: "We did a lot of research work when we started. Firstly, researching on the era 1978 was a subject itself.
"Then we had to get into the details of 'KGF' which many people do not know much about. Also, that era was a very important element for the film because during that time, the price of the gold reached its highest globally."
(Arundhuti Banerjee is in Bengaluru on an invitation by "KGF" makers. She can be contacted at arundhuti.b@ians.in.)
