Shahrukh Khan:’MNIK’ might not see light of day in Mumbai!

After what appeared to be a battle of wits has eventually turned into a struggle for release for the film My Name Is Khan’ in Mumbai.

Even though the film is slated to release on Friday all over nationally, but in Mumbai the matter is left to be decided after foregoing the morning show.

The whole of Thursday saw various agitations and the multiplex and single screen owners were waiting to hear a bit of good news, so that the matter would get resolved without further trouble forthe film makers, distributors and distributors.

According to sources, there was a desperate wait amongst the theatre owners that SRK would apologize and the matter would get resolved. However, SRK who was in Berlin for the European premiere after seeing the Abu Dhabi premiere refused to budge from his stand and spent most of his time twittering about his feelings on the issue.

Nevertheless, the final decision on the issue is expected only after an official meeting between the Fox Star, exhibitors and officials of producer Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions. The single screen theatre in Maratha Mandir where have decided to stop the bookings.

This theatre has the distinction of showing the SRK Kajol starrer ‘Dilwale Dulhanhiya Le Jayenge’ for the past 15 years. The theatres within malls are at a greater risk as if any on toward incident does take place then there will be other outlets of shop owners who will also suffer, thus theatres like Globus and Suburbia which are in Bandra have decided to steer clear from the release.

There was a lot of activity in the Dharma Production office as a conference line between the exhibitors, Karan Johar and SRK was held where Shahrukh appealed to the exhibitors to understand from an emotional point of view.

But, the officials were much against the call as they did not want to strain relation between them and the Shiv Sena. Even as SRK was advised to sort out matters amicably with the Shiv Sena camp according to close sources, he was advised by some Congress officials not to relent and keep his stand firm.

There were reports too that due to some unresolved issues in the past between SRK and the multiplex owners the issue had deepened. Some blamed it on the poor ticket sell out which had dwindled considerably since it had opened.

There were rumors flying hard that the Shiv Sena camp had bought tickets in bulk so that they could spread agitation during shows which has worried a lot of theatre owners. However what remains to be seen is how the problem can be resolved and whetherthe film will at all be released in Mumbai.

PS- Minor agitations against the film were seen in Delhi on Thursday too which has sparked off tensions there too.