A poster for Akshay Kumar’s much talked-about movie Padman emerged on Sunday with an unexpected twist – the release date for the movie has been brought forward to the Republic Day weekend next year, which is also when Rajnikanth-starrer 2.0 which too features Kumar is set to come out. Such a clash is possibly unprecedented, Firstpost reported.

Padman, directed by R Balki and loosely based on the story of low-cost sanitary napkin manufacturer Arunachalam Muruganantham, was earlier supposed to be released on April 13, 2018. The movie also stars Sonam Kapoor and Radhika Apte.

Rajinikanth’s 2.0, a sequel to the 2010 blockbuster Endhiran, features Kumar as the villain. The movie, directed by Shankar, is scheduled to be released on January 25. The music for the sci-fi thriller, composed by AR Rahman, was launched at a grand ceremony in Dubai at a reported budget of Rs 20 crore
on Saturday.

There is speculation that the release of Shankar’s magnum opus could be postponed in the light of this development. 2.0, with a budget of Rs 400 crore, is one of the most expensive movies made in Asia.