After Sony’s Saawariya (2007), Warner Bros and Disney are the latest Hollywood studios to venture into Bollywood. But is all well with the Hollywood-Bollywood link up? Warners first release Saas Bahu aur Sensex was due to open this Friday in India, one week ahead of its September 19 global release, but he film has now been put back by a week to coincide with its international release. Shona Urvashi, the film’s Canadian born Indian director clarifies: “We felt that pirated Indian DVDs would ruin the international business if we kept different dates for the domestic and international release.”

Warner’s second movie, the Akshay Kumar flick From Chandni Chowk to China has now been postponed from Divali (October 28), and may not be released until late January 2009.

Disney also appears to be facing date difficulties in India. Their first Bollywood animated feature Roadside Romeo, featuring the voices of real life A-list couple Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor, was due to hit the cinemas this summer, but it is now expected to be released later this autumn. Could it be that in superstitious Bollywood those original release dates were regarded as ‘inauspicious’ by the astrologers?

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