10 Stars Who Clashed With Themselves On The Same Day!

Before Shabana Azmi tries to outrival herself in the Batwara 1947 and Awarapan 2 clash, we look at other Bollywood actors whose films released on the same day.

Shabana Azmi is pulling off an unusual, if not unheard-of, double duty on August 14, delivering two starkly contrasting performances on the same day.

In Rajkumar Santoshi's pre-Partition drama Batwara 1947, she plays a helpless, elderly Hindu woman relying on a Muslim family to shield her from violent mobs. Going by the trailer, we can expect her role to be steeped in heavy melodrama and demanding deep sympathy from the audience.

Meanwhile, in Nitin Kakkar's Awarapan 2, she swings to the complete opposite end of the spectrum, playing a formidable gangster operating deep within a moral grey zone.

It will be fascinating to see which of these polar opposite avatars allows the award-winning veteran to shine brightest, and which ultimately leaves a heavier impact.

We have had some very prominent actors in the past whose films have clashed on the same day, though never with results that please all.

Sreeju Sudhakaran picks out 10 such stars (or star combos), who clashed with themselves at the box office and what happened as a result.

Shah Rukh Khan

Movies: Guddu and Oh Darling Yeh Hai India

Between Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) and Pardes (1997), Shah Rukh Khan hadn't had much of a strong run at the box office.

Two of them came on the same day, actually. Guddu was this family drama, directed by Prem Lalwani, where he romanced Manisha Koirala and had him fight his parents legally so that he could donate his eyes to her after blinding her in an accident.

Oh Darling Yeh Hai India was a black comedy satire set across the span of a night, and had SRK reunite with his Maya Memsaab director and heroine, Ketan Mehta and Deepa Sahi respectively.

Both are absolutely bad movies, though Oh Darling Yeh Hai India had some interesting ideas, and both released on July 31, 1995.

Tabu

Movies: Astitva and Shikari

Like Shah Rukh Khan, Tabu also had two films coming out on the same Friday, and both ended up flopping.

Astitva was a marital drama directed by Mahesh Manjrekar, where she played a housewife whose family life loses its peace when they find out that she had a brief affair in the past. The movie featured a powerhouse performance from the actor, and was noted for its mature take on relationships.

Tabu's other release of the day, Shikari was a thriller directed by Tezaab fame N Chandra, which was hyped then for being Govinda's first negative role. The movie also starred Karisma Kapoor as one of the female leads. Sadly, while Govinda was impressive in the film, it didn't draw in his fans like some of his comedies at the time.

Both movies had come out on October 6, 2000.

Preity Zinta

Movies: Dil Chahta Hai and Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke

Recently, Dil Chahta Hai celebrated 25 years of its release, but that wasn't the only Hindi film to celebrate that milestone that day. Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke also came out on the same day, though we won't blame you for forgetting its existence, even though it also starred Preity Zinta.

In Farhan Akhtar's directorial debut, Zinta played the curly-haired, dimple-chinned Shalini, whose one wardrobe for an opera attendance made Aamir Khan's non-committal Akash re-evaluate his life goals. Dil Chahta Hai was a cult hit whose legacy still stands strong and was considering in as the movie that ushered in a 'cool' evolution for Bollywood.

Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke was a romantic thriller which also starred Ajay Devgn, Madhuri Dixit and Sunny Deol in an extended cameo.

Devgn and Zinta played a con couple while Madhuri Dixit played a woman whose husband was killed because he looked like the swindler, prompting the latter to take his place and trick the widow out of her money.

Dil Chahta Hai and Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke released on August 10, 2001.

Amitabh Bachchan

Movies: Khakee and Aetbaar

Rajkumar Santoshi's Khakee stands as one of the best Bollywood cop thrillers of the century.

Anchoring a stellar ensemble that included Akshay Kumar, Aishwarya Rai and Ajay Devgn as a ruthless antagonist, Amitabh Bachchan excelled as a weary cop protecting a high-target witness.

Coincidentally, on the exact same day, January 23, 2004, Bachchan played another fiercely protective patriarch in Vikram Bhatt's Aetbaar.

A remake of the Hollywood thriller Fear (1996), Aetbaar, co-starring John Abraham and Bipasha Basu, the film sees Bachchan's character doing all he can to save his daughter from a violently toxic boyfriend.

Expectedly, their box office fates were polar opposites: Khakee earned strong reviews and commercial success, while Aetbaar was largely ignored.

Rimi Sen

Movies: Kyon Ki... and Garam Masala

This entry is a multi-whammy because not only did the two movies have the same actress, but they were also directed by the same filmmaker, Priyadarshan, with both being remakes of his Malayalam hits which starred Mohanlal in the lead (Mukesh, M G Soman, Jagathi Sreekumar, Maniyanpilla Raju and Lissy were also part of both Malayalam movies).

Kyon Ki... was the remake of Thalavattam (1986), itself inspired by One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), with Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan in the lead roles. Rimi Sen had an extended cameo as Khan's love interest in the flashback sequences, whose tragic death causes him to go insane.

In the comic caper Garam Masala, she played the frustrated fiancée of Akshay Kumar's character, who doesn't realise he is cheating on her with three air hostesses.

Both movies also starred the late Asrani.

At the box office, it was Garam Masala that took the win, with the more serious Kyon Ki... not drawing much of an audience despite the presence of Khan and Kapoor, and Himesh Reshammiya's songs.

Kyon Ki... and Garam Masala both released on November 3, 2005.

Suniel Shetty and Paresh Rawal

Movies: Phir Hera Pheri and Chup Chup Ke

Priyadarshan makes a return again, albeit this time he didn't clash with his own movie, but rather the sequel to his hit, and ended up losing the race.

Phir Hera Pheri was directed by the late Neeraj Vora, who had penned the screenplays for quite a few of Priyadarshan's Hindi movies, including Hera Pheri (2000). And since this is a direct sequel to Hera Pheri, Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty and Paresh Rawal returned to play the leads.

Phir Hera Pheri was a huge hit at the box office.

Suniel Shetty and Paresh Rawal also played important roles in Priyadarshan's dramedy Chup Chup Ke, which was a remake of the Malayalam hit Punjabi House (1999).

The movie, which had Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor in the lead, didn't work at the box office, though thanks to its comedy, it enjoyed a cult following later on.

Apart from Shetty and Rawal, both films also starred Rajpal Yadav and Manoj Joshi.

Phir Hera Pheri and Chup Chup Ke released on June 9, 2006.

Sanjay Dutt

Movies: All The Best: Fun Begins and Blue

Diwali 2009 made us witness a compelling box office showdown for Sanjay Dutt, with two of his major releases clashing on October 19.

Rohit Shetty's All The Best: Fun Begins emerged as the clear commercial winner.

The comedy thrived on a classic farce setup: Sanjay Dutt stars as a wealthy patriarch visiting his younger brother (Fardeen Khan), whose financial disasters and fake marriage are desperately covered up by a relentlessly scheming Ajay Devgn.

Dutt also took on the lead role in Blue, an undersea treasure hunt that came with massive hype for being one of Bollywood's most expensive films (then) and for bringing Kylie Minogue to Bollywood.

Alongside Dutt, the movie featured Akshay Kumar in a grey-shaded role, Lara Dutta, Zayed Khan, and a cameo by Katrina Kaif. But despite its lavish visuals and an A R Rahman soundtrack, Blue failed to attract good reviews and left the audience unimpressed.

Shruti Haasan

Movies: D-Day and Ramaiya Vastavaiya

In Nikkhil Advani's cross-border spy thriller D-Day, Shruti Haasan delivered a memorable turn (possibly, her career-best performance) as a scarred, golden-hearted sex worker in Pakistan. Her tragic romance with Arjun Rampal's undercover R&AW agent added emotional weight to the story before her character met a grim end.

On that very same Friday, which is July 19, 2013, she switched gears in tone and genre to headline the frothy romcom Ramaiya Vastavaiya.

Directed by Prabhu Deva, this remake of his 2005 Telugu hit Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana marked the acting debut of Girish Kumar. Although D-Day earned far better reviews than its lighthearted competitor, neither film made much of an impact at the box office.

Taapsee Pannu

Movies: The Ghazi Attack and Running Shaadi

On February 17, 2017, Taapsee Pannu was the sole female adult cast member in the submarine thriller The Ghazi Attack, which also starred Rana Daggubati, Kay Kay Menon and Atul Kulkarni.

Despite having an interesting setup and good performances, The Ghazi Attack failed to draw in the crowds in theatres with Pannu's role being criticised for being forced into a plot that didn't need her.

On that same day, a delayed romcom of the actress, Running Shaadi, also came to theatres, where she was cast opposite Amit Sadh.

The duo played partners who run a website that helps couples elope and get married. Unlike its title, the movie failed to do any sort of 'running' at the box office.

Abhishek Banerjee

Movies: Stree 2 and Vedaa

Abhishek Banerjee had quite an interesting Independence Day clash in 2024, where he got to display his incredible range as an actor.

He, of course, had a scene-stealing return as the naïve Jana in the horror comedy Stree 2, with the actor becoming a permanent mainstay of the Maddock Horror Comedy Universe.

Stree 2 is also the franchise's biggest hit, having netted more than Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) at the box office.

Abhishek Banerjee also impressed as the main antagonist in Nikkhil Advani's Vedaa, where he played a powerful and ruthless upper-caste politician.

However, the movie, which had John Abraham and Sharvari in the lead, underperformed in the face of Stree 2's box office blitzkrieg.

PS: It would be pertinent to note here that Tamannaah Bhatia also had crucial cameos in both Stree 2 and Vedaa.

What's more, Akshay Kumar also had a prominent cameo in Stree 2 while Khel Khel Mein, where he was one of the main leads, had also released on the same day as both Stree 2 and Vedaa.

Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff