MUMBAI: Looks like the tussle between YashRaj Films (YRF) and Ajay Devgn Ffilms (ADF) regarding screenspace for ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan (JTHJ)’ and ‘Son of Sardaar (SOS)’ respectively was just a preview of how things are going to be in Bollywood. The real, bigger box office wars are only just coming up.

Take for instance Eid 2013. Salman Khan and Sohail Khan’s movie (either the remake of south film ‘Brindavanam’ or something new), Ekta Kapoor’s ‘Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai 2’, and Shah Rukh Khan and Rohit Shetty’s ‘Chennai Express’ are all aiming for an Eid 2013 release.

Salman Khan and Eid releases go hand in hand – from ‘Wanted’ (2009), to ‘Dabangg’ (2010), ‘Bodyguard’ (2011), and ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ (2012). So even though it is not similar to YRF’s deal with screen owners, the unspoken monopoly is bound to affect other releases.

As early as September, when Salman Khan had not made any announcements regarding his future projects, Ekta Kapoor claimed her space by announcing the sequel to ‘Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai’ starring Akshay Kumar, Imran Khan and Sonakshi Sinha.

With Salman sure to release a movie during Eid, the competition for not just screen space, but also for box office collections will be quite fierce.

Meanwhile, Shah Rukh Khan and Rohit Shetty were looking to release ‘Chennai Express’ on Ramzan Eid as well, but the duo has decided to take a cautious route. They are now aiming at a release 15 days before the festival. For Rohit Shetty, the date is crucial because his previous movies – ‘Singham’ (2011) and ‘Bol Bachchan’ (2012) – were released in this period and they did well.

While the cats fight, the biggest gainers of these tussles are going to be screen owners and multiplexes.

Let’s wait and watch if Eid 2013 is going to be a magnified version of Diwali 2012.