While the promotions around two of Ekta's upcoming releases are going full swing, why is the producer low-key on her third film that hits the marquee tomorrow?

Almost every film that has been made under the banner of Ekta Kapoor has always received uninterrupted support from the producer when it comes to going all guns blazing to promote the projects.

So much so that even when people complain about the buzz around her films coming out of their ears, Ekta apparently takes it in her stride and goes hammer and tongs to promote them further.

Incidentally, while Ekta has been doing just that for her upcoming film with John Abraham and her later release with Akshay Kumar-Imran Khan, strangely there has not been much movement from her end for her project with Emraan Hashmi that will release tomorrow.


Poor cousin?
A source close to the producer cribs, `Her next film has some known names like Emraan Hashmi, Konkona Sen Sharma, Huma Qureshi and Kalki Koechlin and Vishal Bhardwaj as its co-producer. It's strange why the promotions have been so lacklustre.`

As part of their promotional strategy, the makers even launched a TV mini-series based on witches in March. The show that starred the likes of Smriti Irani, Sakshi Tanwar and Shweta Tiwari failed to garner impressive TRPs.


Not on the same page
Some blame it on the initial creative difference between Ekta and Vishal. An industry insider says, `When Ekta saw the film first, she didn't like certain portions and asked the crew to re-shoot those sequences. Huma, who had to lose weight for the film and had gained it back again post the project had to once again accommodate her producer's wish.`

Not just that, Ekta and Vishal apparently couldn't even come to terms on the film's marketing plans. `But then Ekta decided to take things in her own hands, ` adds the insider.

Trade sources say the film has already fetched a good amount through the sale of its TV and music rights and its overseas release. `In fact the makers have to recover just Rs 3 crore from the box office for the film to be declared profitable.`

On the other hand, Ekta seems to be concentrating on her two other films -- the sequels of Shootout in Lokhandwala and Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai respectively.


Moolah matters
Sources say the reason why Ekta is focussing so much on the other two projects is because of the much larger amounts of money riding on the films.

A source says, `The makers had been accused by encounter cop Issaq Bhagwan, one of the main protagonists in the film, of altering the facts in the storyline.

Even S Hussain Zaidi, who authored the book on which the film is based, later took back the No Objection Certificate he had issued to the makers. To counter that, Ekta decided to flex her muscles and redouble her efforts into promoting the film.`

Another source close to the production house says, `The Akshay starrer has been Ekta's pet project, as the original film (Ajay Devgn-Emraan Hashmi) had catapulted her into the league of serious filmmakers.`


Fast forward
Promotional events around Ekta's John Abraham starrer have been plenty.

Mar 19: While Priyanka Chopra's much-hyped item song was already running on air, the makers organised a special event to officially launch the song. The event was attended by PC, Ekta, director Sanjay Gupta and music director Anu Malik.

Mar 20: The film's music had a special launch on the next day itself. Sunny Leone got jiggy on her item number at the event. After a week again, Sunny attended another special event to officially launch her item song.

April 16: The makers organised an event to launch John's introduction song Ala Manya at a suburban single-screen.