/> Can movie audiences accommodate two Bachchan flicks on the same Friday? The Big B thought not.

Apparently he advised Shoot-out producer Sanjay Gupta to shift the film forward.

Gupta was reluctant to say no to AB. "Not after both Mr Bachchan and Abhishek have charged me no money for Shoot-out. That's their love for Sanju Dutt. And I'd be the last person to disrespect Mr Bachchan's wishes. However there was nowhere for me to go.

On June 1 we'd have to clash with Fool & Final. Also, there's the third part of Pirates Of The Caribbean coming up. After the sweeping success of Spiderman 3, we filmmakers are running scared of dubbed Hollywood films."

Gupta convinced the Big B that there was absolutely no competition between Shoot-out and Cheeni Kum. "They belong to different genres. Apart from the fact that they star Mr Bachchan there's nothing in common between our film and Cheeni Kum.

In fact I'd have liked Cheeni Kum's release to be shifted forward. Mo matter when it's released it will find its staunch audiences. But Lokhandwala ... is an actioner and will have to compete with films at home and abroad."

Adding to Sanjay Gupta's woes are the careless whispers that every actor in Shoot-out At Lokhandawala has a guest appearance.

"Not true!" protests Gupta. "And I know this rumour is being spread by a jealous overseas distributor whom we didn't allow to distribute Shoot-out internationally. Our company White Feather is distributing the film abroad.

The fact is, every member of the cast including Mr Bachchan and Sanju Dutt have full-fledged roles in Shoot-out. The only cameo is Abhishek Bachchan's. And before using his face prominently for the publicity we took Mr Bachchan's permission.

When both father and son have gone out of their way to accommodate us the last thing I'd want to do is exploit their presence in our film."