Toxic’s move to June 4 sparks a war of words with Varun Dhawan’s team, makers of Yash film say clash ‘handled cordially’

‘Makers of Varun Dhawan’s film are upset’

And, now, the makers of the comedy are not happy with this development. According to a report by Bollywood Hungama, a source said: “If a film has already locked a release slot and another filmmaker plans to come on the same day, it’s customary to inform the makers who had taken the date first. In this case, that didn’t happen. Varun Dhawan, director David Dhawan and producer Ramesh Taurani learned that Toxic: A Fairy Tale For Grown-Ups was arriving in the same week as their film only after actor Yash posted the news on social media.”

The source continued, “The team of Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai is upset. They were caught unawares and are now considering what to do next, should they move or should they stick to the date?” The report also said that when producer Ramesh Taurani was asked for a comment, he simply replied, “We’ve not decided anything yet.”

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‘Everything was handled transparently’: Toxic Makers

However, the makers of Toxic claim that they informed the team of Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai in advance about their intention to move the release to that date. A spokesperson from KVN Productions stated, “When the owner of KVN, Mr Venkat, realised the dates were overlapping, he personally reached out to the makers of Varun’s film, Mr Ramesh Taurani, to avoid any unnecessary friction. Anil Thadani facilitated the conversation, as Toxic makers were clear that they didn’t want the other project to face the kind of uncertainty his film had earlier encountered. The discussion happened well before the official announcement of the new release date, so both teams were completely aware that a clash was on the horizon. It was all handled transparently and cordially.”

The report further stated that it was distributor Anil Thadani who encouraged the makers of Toxic to postpone the release and arrive at a date when global tensions had subsided and the IPL season had also ended. Yash reportedly found merit in the suggestion, following which the decision was made.