John Abraham, whose upcoming comedy Pagalpanti was also set to release on November 8, has postponed his film to avoid a clash with Sidharth Malhotra and Riteish Deshmukh-starrer Marjaavaan. Directed by Milap Milan Zaveri, Marjaavaan will now hit the theatres countrywide on November 8 instead of November 22, which has now been taken by John's Pagalpanti. Marjaavaan has been produced by Bhushan Kumar, Divya Khosla Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Monisha Advani, Madhu Bhojwani and Nikkhil Advani. John Abraham to Step into Jason Statham’s Shoes for the Hindi Remake of The Transporter?

John has frequently collaborated with Nikkhil, most recent being last month's Batla House, and Milap, who directed him in films such as Shootout at Wadala and Satyameva Jayate. Marjaavaan will benefit from a solo window and Bhushan (Kumar) agreed with me. Milap is a grounded boy and wonderful writer while Nikkhil is a good, solid man for whom friendship is non-negotiable. "I have worked with directors who have moved on, but Nikkhil understands loyalty and will work with you irrespective of how a film fares. Batla House Box Office Collection Day 11: John Abraham Starrer Has a Strong Second Weekend, Earns Rs 83.78 Crore

It's important for all of us that Marjaavaan sets the box office on fire," John said in a statement. Milap said he is grateful to John, calling him a "hero"."Even though he isn't part of 'Marjaavaan' I know he wants the best for me. Hence I went across nervously to show him the trailer for his opinion. And I was so delighted that he loved it tremendously. He found it very powerful, massy and commercial.

"So much so that when I casually told him I wish 'Marjaavaan' could have a solo release he instantly offered to shift the release of Pagalpanti and allow us to come solo on November 8. Only a true friend would do such a magnanimous and amazing gesture," the director said. Nikkhil said he is "extremely grateful" to John and Pagalpanti team for moving their film from the release date.

"Milap and his team have done a superb job bringing this emotional love story to life and I'm sure that with this added advantage of clean release date the audiences will be in for the treat that is expected from the Riteish-Sidharth clash and Milap's staple dialoguebaazi combined with masala maar dhaad," he added. Bhushan Kumar said, "John has become a family to both T-Series and Emmay.

Marjaavaan is a complete commercial action drama that deserves a good weekend. We are grateful John agreed on swapping Marjaavaan and Pagalpanti release dates." Marjaavaan was originally set to release on October 2 but got delayed to pending work on film's VFX. Besides Sidharth and Riteish, the film also features Tara Sutaria and Rakul Preet.

Pagalpanti, directed by Anees Bazmee and also starring Anil Kapoor, Ileana D'Cruz, Arshad Warsi and Saurabh Shukla, among others, will compete against Ayushmann Khurrana's Bala on November 22 release date.