Saif Ali Khan, Shraddha Kapoor clash

Quite an unusual clash, this! Come July 2017, Saif Ali Khan’s Chef goes up against Shraddha Kapoor’s Haseena — The Queen of Mumbai the same Friday.

A trade insider shares, “Haseena was announced first. However, with Chef’s release date being announced, it means that the two films will take each other on July 14, 2017.”

However, Chef has been on floors for a while and the film’s shoot is expected to wrap soon. Shooting for Haseena, however, has just begun.

Saif had no option but to release Chef in July, given he has two films lined up in the first half of the year — Rangoon (February 24 and Kaalakandi (April 21). “His third film had to be spaced out accordingly. July seemed reasonable,” shares the source.

Haseena, a solo outing for Shraddha will find a tough competitor in Saif-starrer Chef. But, insists an exhibitor, “The two films are quite different from each other, so it should not be much of a worry for either actor. Chef will target the multiplexes. The title itself has an elitist feel to it. On the other hand, Haseena has Shraddha Kapoor playing Dawood Ibrahim’s sister. The title, theme and treatment are expected to cater primarily to single-screen audiences.”

Chef is being helmed by Raja Menon, whose last film was Akshay Kumar superhit, Airlift. Haseena sees Apoorva Lakhia in the director’s chair, making a comeback of sorts after 2013’s disastrous Zanjeer.

“None of that matters though when the promo of your film does well. Once the promo arrives, it would decide how the two films will find their audience,” the trade insider adds.