Vipul Shah halts all publicity for Salman Khan

Mumbai, October 02: Is this a case of a Salman Khan overkill? Director Vipul Shah doesn`t think so, but he has put a halt to all publicity involving the star for his forthcoming release `London Dreams` until `Main Aurr Mrs Khanna` is released Oct 16.

“There`s no point in a publicity overlap. I don`t want audiences to be confused or annoyed by repeated and overlapping images of Salman`s films,” Shah told reporters.

The Salman season has begun full-swing. After the whopping “Wanted”, it is Salman`s home production “Main Aurr Mrs. Khanna” on Oct 16 followed by Vipul Shah`s “London Dreams” on Oct 30.

“Fortunately, for me both `Wanted` and `Main Aurr Mrs Khanna` are very different from my film, and from one another. However, it`s finally the same Salman. So I`d rather not waste his publicity dates or my efforts to get the film noticed,” he said.

Shah is looking at a new strategy to promote his film.

“I`m waiting and observing the way `Main Aurr Mrs Khanna` is being promoted. My challenge is to now present Salman differently from the way he was presented for `Wanted` and `Main Aurr Mrs Khanna`.”

One of the ideas is to host a round of rock concerts in selected cities featuring Salman, Ajay Devgan and Asin Thottumkal since the film is about a music band. But at the moment Shah is tight-lipped on this.

“It`s never wise to reveal your strategy. You never know who might decide to use it before you do,” he explained.

Another problem has crept up on “London Dreams”. Sujoy Ghosh`s fantasy “Aladin” has been advanced from Nov 13 to Oct 30.

“I had gone ahead and planned an October 30 release with the producers` guild`s assurance that there would be no other release. But now suddenly `Aladin` has been advanced to the same Friday as `London Dreams`. I hope neither film suffers,” said Shah, keeping his fingers crossed.

—IANS