It Was Wrong On Our Part: Prashanth Neel Apologises To Rajkumar Hirani For Salaar-Dunki Clash

Prashanth Neel is basking in the success of his latest project Bagheera. Directed by Dr Suri, the Kannada superhero film is based on the story by the KGF director. In a recent interview, the director recalled his last film Prabhas starrer Salaar which hit the big screen on December 22, 2023, along with Bollywood biggie Dunki. The filmmaker has now shared his honest opinion on the clash.

Prashanth Neel shares the real reason behind the clash between Dunki and Salaar

In a recent interview, the Salaar director admitted that clashing the Prabhas starrer with a Bollywood movie was not a good idea. While Dunki was released only in Hindi, Neel's film was released pan-India in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi. Speaking to a publication, the director claimed that it was Salaar's producer who insisted on releasing the film on the particular date because it was astrologically helpful. 
 

Prashanth Neel shared that the Dunki team announced their release date first and had already blocked Christmas 2023 for release. He admitted ‘it is not a good thing’ for another film to be released on the same day. He cited that it was because the date was favourable to them astrologically, the release was not postponed to avert the clash.

What was the result of the Salaar-Dunki clash?

While Salaar Part 1 emerged victorious in the Christmas clash with Dunki. The Prabhas starrer was released countrywide and registered a record-breaking business in Telugu and Hindi versions both. The film amassed a total of a staggering ₹406.45 Cr with ₹218.3 Cr from the Telugu version, ₹152.65 Cr from Hidni and the remaining from other languages.  

Dunki, on the other hand, performed exceptionally well in Hindi-speaking regions. The Rajkumar Hirani directorial put up a strong front against the Prabhas starrer. The movie made a total of ₹ 227 Cr in the domestic collection, as per Sacnilk.