Shah Rukh Khan gets Pen Marudhar on board Dunki; Distributor promises BIGGER release than Salaar in North

Shah Rukh Khan is riding on what can be termed the peak of his career. A day back, Hombale Films announced that their gangster action film, Salaar, will hit the big screens on December 22, 2023, clashing with Shah Rukh Khan's next, Dunki. The announcement shocked everyone as it's a gutsy move to clash with a superstar riding high on the success of back-to-back 500 crore films. Hombale sources however claimed to show confidence in their product and distribution of Anil Thadani.

And now, Bollywood Hungama has exclusively got to know that Pen Marudhar has come on board as the distributor of Dunki. "Pen will be releasing Dunki in most of the territories in India. After the historic success of Jawan, Pen will be looking to give Dunki a wide release across the country. They had several meetings with SRK and his co-producer Gaurav Verma over the last few months and have devised a model to give Dunki an optimum release. Rajkumar Hirani and Jio have also shown complete faith in the model of SRK and team," a source told Bollywood Hungama.

Through the meetings, Pen Marudhar and Gaurav Verma have promised to give Dunki a bigger release than Salaar. "It's SRK at his peak and no one can get it easy in a clash with him. The distributors and exhibitors are excited to screen the combo of SRK and Rajkumar Hirani. While the Salaar team might opt for various models to secure screens, just the combo of SRK x Hirani is enough to excite the audience," the source told us further, adding that Pen has started initiating conversations with the exhibitors to get showcasing in place for Dunki.

The Hindi cinema audience has gotten back in big numbers to consume Hindi films and hence, a proper made-in Hindi film - Dunki - is expected to set the box office on fire, irrespective of the clash. "The exhibitor partners on Jawan have already extended complete support to Dunki. SRK, Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Akshay Kumar, and Ajay Devgn are the OG Hindi Film Stars and the exhibitors are excited to support their evergreen superstars," the source concluded.

Both Dunki and Salaar are set to hit the big screen during the Christmas weekend.

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