Did Sanjay Leela Bhansali request Akshay Kumar to shift release date of 'Pad Man' for 'Padmaavat'?

Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali reportedly dropped by on Akshay Kumar at a location in Worli earlier on Friday. A source said, "Sanjay Sir has requested Akshay to please consider a shift in the release date of his next film Pad Man that is due to release on January 25 with Bhansali's own Padmaavat."

Whether or not Akshay will heed to Bhansali's request is not known.

However, prior to SLB's visit to the venue of the arena where Akshay was rehearsing for his act that he is due to perform at an upcoming awards night, there were also strong rumours suggesting that there were phone calls exchanged between the studio heads who are bankrolling Padmaavat and Pad Man respectively.

Another trade source added, "Both the Pad Man and the Padmaavat makers feel it is bad for both films to clash at the box office. It would mean both would eat into each other's business.''

The source also pointed out that the makers of Pad Man reportedly felt bad that Padmaavat had to literally give a trial by fire to reach the destination (i.e. release date) and they graciously agreed to give Bhansali an audience. However, the decision on whether the films will clash or whether Pad Man will defer its release was not known till we put up this report.

Watch this space to know further developments.