SRK loses to SRK

In times of recession, Eros International is hedging its bets on a money making director — Farah Khan, rather than bank on Anubhav Sinha.

Farah’s successful track record has put the brakes on Anubhav’s Ra 1 temporarily. She will begin shooting her film Happy New Year ahead of schedule, while Ra 1 has been pushed from September to next year.

A few days ago, we told you how Farah Khan had to rush with the script of the first half of Happy New Year to San Francisco where Shah Rukh is shooting currently. It was a known fact that Farah was supposed to start her film only early next year. We hear, Eros International insisted that Farah’s film should start this year, by the end of November.

Ra 1 is being presented by Eros International and produced by Red Chillies. It was slated to go on the floors before Farah’s film, “That’s true,” says the source, “But when Eros studied the project Ra 1, they felt that this film may not derive sufficient returns in today’s economy. They felt that it would be better if the commercial director Farah Khan put her project on the floors first. They wanted to back that first and wait for things to improve on the economy front. They will go with Ra 1 but only at a later date.”

Mumbai Mirror had also reported on June 27 that Shah Rukh has been advised not to indulge in heavy-duty action. This, combined with Farah’s track record, has come in the way of Anubhav Sinha’s film.

Despite repeated calls and text messages, Eros International CEO Sunil Lulla remained unavailable for comment.

Happy New Year stars Shah Rukh Khan in the lead. The remaining cast is yet to be finalised. Farah also has to complete the script of the second half of the film.