Mumbai: Distributors and exhibitors say the controversy over the release of purported transcripts of Salman Khan’s conversations with Aishwarya Rai would have no bearing on his new film ‘Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya’ released Friday. The eagerly awaited film by David Dhawan, which also stars Sushmita Sen and Katrina Kaif, has been released, taking into consideration the market for Salman-starrers. The release comes a day after alleged taped conversations

between Salman and Aishwarya, in which he asks her to appear for a show by a gangster, were published on the front pages of a national daily. This was followed by another ‘exposé’ Friday of other conversations. According to Arun Sharma, programming manager of INOX, the development is unlikely to affect the box-office prospects of the film. “The development may have its effect on the way he is perceived by the masses but we are not expecting it to have any immediate effect on the box-office prospects of ‘MPKK’... We will have to wait and watch in the next few days how Salman fans, who constitute the repeat audience, react to the film,” he said. Director Anees Bazmee, who has worked with Salman for the first time in the much-anticipated ‘No Entry,’ said: “I and my other counterparts in the industry are unlikely to be affected by the development.” — HNS