No one to pull the release date of Aamir Khan's 'Dhobi Ghat'?

No one to pull the release date of Aamir Khan's 'Dhobi Ghat'?: Aamir Khan has the power and he doesn't even make an effort to flaunt it. No wonder, with his decision to pull the release date of his next, Dhobi Ghat, from February to January (21st to be precise), he is getting a clear road ahead with no traffic whatsoever, what with Abhishek Bachchan starrer Game moving to a later date as well.

Says a veteran industry insider, "Game was earlier all set to release on 21st January. The date was announced months ago and with the film's principal shoot being through, there were plans lined up to cut the theatrical promo as well."

One was surprised though with the stance taken by Game to stick on to its original release plans. After all two other biggies had silently moved away from the same date with Vishal Bhardwaj's Saat Khoon Maaf and Madhur Bhandarkar's Dil To Baccha Hai Ji planning to arrive later on. However, as things stand today, the makers of Game have announced a new date,18th March, and in the process have steered clear of Aamir Khan's film (despite it being a low budget offbeat experimental cinema).

Ritesh Sidhwani, producer of Game along with Farhan Akhtar confirms, "Yes, we are not coming on 21st January anymore. It is 18th March for us." One also suspects if this was a goodwill gesture, given the fact that the producers are anyways working with Aamir Khan for their next outing (to be directed by Reema Kagti). After all it won't be fair to clash with the same actor at the box office with whom they have already begun collaboration.

Aamir Khan "No, that was not the case", Ritesh kills the speculation here, "We are not yet ready with our film and needed more time for post production. Since it looked difficult to get Game ready in February as well, we are now aiming for March."

This makes good business as well as commercial sense after all. There has been a heavy dose of films right through the last quarter of 2010. January doesn't look any better with half a dozen major films anyways planned for release. Moving ahead to March means that Game has a field wide open for it to enjoy all the perks that come along with a solo release as well as zilch competition.

Point to be noted though is that World Cup cricket would be in its full fervour during March. A 'game' like this in the middle of some intense game of cricket should indeed bring in all the thrills, both on the big as well as the small screen.