MUMBAI: Ranbir Kapoor, ladies and gentleman, has well and truly arrived. News has trickled in that the superstar actor, riding high on the success of his last film, will see a Christmas release for his next ‘Bombay Velvet’.

Up until now, big festivals like Diwali, Christmas, Eid, Holi etc were the domain of the big boys aka the big players in Bollywood. For years, Eid meant one thing: a Salman Khan release, just as Diwali became synonymous with Shah Rukh Khan and Ajay Devgn (remember their clash at the box office last Diwali, with ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ and ‘Son of Sardaar’ hitting the marquee), and Christmas was Aamir Khan’s forte: ‘3 Idiots’, ‘Ghajini’ and ‘Taare Zameen Par’ not only released during Christmas in previous years, but were also box office super duper hits.

But now, with the Kapoor scion having tasted sweet success with ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’, the tables are sure to turn. Ranbir Kapoor’s upcoming film ‘Bombay Velvet’, directed by Anurag Kashyap and produced by Phantom Films, will hit theatres near Christmas 2014. Shooting will reportedly commence next month.

Confirmed Vikas Bahl, co-producer of ‘Bombay Velvet’: “The shooting for ‘Bombay Velvet’ will begin mid-July. We have decided to release the film during Christmas 2014. The film is fit for the festive period.”

And ‘Bombay Velvet’ will clash with one of the Khan’s big releases: Aamir’s ‘Dhoom 3’, which has also locked Christmas 2014 as release date.

‘Bombay Velvet’ is directed by Anurag Kashyap and is based on the novel ‘Mumbai Fables’ by historian Gyan Prakash. The film is set in the 1960’s and stars Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and filmmaker Karan Johar in a negative role.