I Hate Luv Storys publicity without their stars

Imran Khan and Sonam Kapoor were absent from Mumbai just before the publicity of I Hate Luv Storys (IHLS) began. The two canceled their publicity work for the film and headed abroad for the shooting of separate films in Scotland and Mauritius, all thanks to the overweening generosity of the I Hate Luv Storys producer Karan Johar.

Dates have always been a burning issue among producers, often leading to unsolvable scheduling snares. During the shooting of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Aishwarya Rai had to shuffle her dates with Subhash Ghai's Taal. Neither of the filmmaker was happy. Now, Imran Khan finds himself in a scheduling jam thanks to a clash between the schedules for his under-production film Break Ke Baad in Mauritius and the marketing and release of I Hate Luv Storys in Mumbai.

Meticulous planner that he is, Karan Johar had set aside a large chunk of Imran Khan and Sonam Kapoor's dates in June and July for the promotion of IHLS. Ever-accommodating for his colleagues, Karan gave away Sonam's publicity dates for the shooting of Pankaj Kapoor's Mausam in Edinburgh. Then Kunal Kohli requested Karan to let go of Imran's dates for Kohli's first independent production Break Ke Baad. Imran who was committed to do promotional work of IHLS marched off to Mauritius to shoot for Kunal's assistant Danish Aslam's, leaving Karan high and dry.

Confirming these developments from Mauritius the Break Ke Baad, producer Kunal Kohli says, "Yes Karan sweetly let me have Imran's dates so that I could complete my schedule in Mauritius. It's rare for two producers like me and Karan, to be friends and do whatever we can to help one another." Karan in fact requested Kunal to send Imran back from the second week of June. But Kunal requested a week more. Says Kunal, "Karan's stars do extensive publicity. So he has made quite a sacrifice for me. My film which would be Imran's next release can only benefit from all the publicity for Karan's film." Now that Imran and Sonam are back in Mumbai, they are expected to do 19 hours of publicity every day to make up for lost time!