Festival releases often translate into a box-office clash. With Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari and Kantara: Chapter 1, however, the war has begun even before they hit the theatres on October 2. The two releases are engaged in a screen war, which started when the distributors of the Rishab Shetty-starrer asked that the mythological action drama be allotted all single-screen theatres across the country and a dominant share of prime shows in multiplexes. This sparked a backlash from the makers of Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari, who have now insisted on equal screen division across key territories.

Even as the two movies’ advance booking has opened, exhibitors fear being the worst hit as they will end up disappointing at least one major distributor no matter what they decide. Single-screen owners, especially in Tier-2 and -3 towns, are said to be under intense pressure from each party to increase the respective film’s shows.