Karan Johar clears the road for Ekta Kapoor

Ayan Mukerji-directed Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani starring Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone was originally slated for release on March 29. However, producers Dharma Productions have now decided to postpone the date to May 31 because Karan Johar was keen on averting a clash with good friend Ekta Kapoor, whose Lootera hits theatres on the same day.
A source told us, “It is never a good idea to release big films on the same day.It just eats into each other’s business and the audience gets divided. The shooting of Lootera is almost complete and Ekta Kapoor was contemplating attaching the promo of Lootera with KJo’s Student of the Year. However that didn’t happen. The entire shoot of Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani will be completed by November except for one song that will be shot in January.”
Lootera, co-produced by Balaji Telefilms and Phantom Productions, was earlier supposed to release in February but because of Ranveer Singh’s unavailability for promotions, with his dates having already been allotted to Sanjay Leela Bhansali’sRam Leela, the film got pushed to March 29.
A source told us, “Ekta was the first to announce her release date. Karan was touched on hearing Ekta was willing to push her release date for him. So before that, Karan decided to shift his. He shares a great rapport with Ajay too and didn’t want to complicate the situation.”
Even now, Karan having postponed Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani to May 31 still doesn’t clear the road for Lootera completely, with Ajay Devgn starrer Himmatwala already slotted for release that day.
Karan Johar and Ekta Kapoor remained unavailable for comment.