'I Think It Was Not As Simple As...': Shashank Khaitan On Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari Clashing With Kantana Chapter 1 - Exclusive

Shashank Khaitan's Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari is all set to release on October 2, 2025. The film stars Varun Dhawan, Janhvi Kapoor, Rohit Saraf, and Sanya Malhotra in the lead roles. The trailer and the songs of the movie have created a good pre-release buzz.

The Free Press Journal recently interacted with Shashank and spoke to him about the film, clash with Kantara Chapter 1, and a lot more...

Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari is all set to release in just a few hours. How nervous or excited are you right now?

I think a bunch of both. Excited to see how people will react to the film. Very happy that there's a certain amount of excitement for the film, and we hope that we can stay true to that. We endeavour to make people laugh, hopefully make them cry a little, and just have a lot of fun at the cinema. We have already received a positive response to the music of the film and the trailer we created.

On October 2, even Kantara Chapter 1 is slated to release. So, did you think of changing the release date of SSKTK to avoid the clash, or were you like It's okay, we will come together?

No, I think it was not as simple as that. We were very much aware that Kantara was coming when we decided to come with the film. But, we also realized that both films are very different in genres, and they're actually dramatically opposite films in that sense. We believe that there is an audience for both movies. I think we always wish all films the best, and the same for Kantara as well. We definitely believe there is an audience for everyone. I think people will be excited to watch both movies. They might watch one before and the next later. We are happy to explore the opportunity of a big holiday day, knowing that it's Dussehra, knowing that we are a strong family film, and we are confident that people would be excited to see our movie as well.

Earlier this year, Aamir Khan decided not to sell his movie (Sitaare Zameen Par) to any OTT platform as they were asking for just an 8-week gap between theatrical and digital release. As a filmmaker, what's your take on a film coming on OTT just after 8 weeks of its theatrical release?

We just had two films, one is Saiyaara and the other is Mahavatar Narsimha. Both exploded in the theatre and also exploded on Netflix. So, I really think it's just about making a good film and trusting it. I think we start overanalyzing things when the film does not work, rather than taking responsibility for it. Both these films, which I just mentioned, have done tremendously well in the theatre, gone on to break records, and are now doing really well on OTT platforms as well. So I think we should just focus on making the most honest film we can make. If it's a story that connects to a majority audience, we will see it get a lot of love.