Bollywood is set to witness another major box office clash in January next year with Farhan Aktar and Ritesh Sidhwani's Raees starring Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan's Kaabil opening in theatres on Republic Day (January 26). While there have been instances in the past where the teams see each other as rivals and the clash eventually strain their relationships, Farhan Akhtar turned out to be a true sport.
Although speculation was rife that Raees producers Farhan and Ritesh would push the release date of their film since Rakesh Roshan had announced his movie Kaabil first, the Rock On 2 actor seems to be in no mood to delay the release date.
When asked about the clash, Farhan told DNA that his film is not competing with that of Rakesh's and that he wants Hrithik's film to do well if not better than theirs. "Please don't call it a clash. We are not here to compete with Rakesh uncle and Hrithik's film.There are just so many Fridays in a year. Then there are those weeks like the shraadh or pre-Diwali and pre-Eid when one can't release one's film. So where does one go?," he said.
The actor-director-producer further tried to put his point across by saying that two films have the capability to do well as long as they are good movies. He cited the example of two big budget films – Bajirao Mastani and Dilwale – which clashed at the box office yet managed to earn good money.
"I truly feel — and I am not saying this because we're coming with another film — there is room for two films to do well, as long as they are both good films with solid VFM (value for money). In the past, so many times there have been instances of two big films coming on the same Friday and doing well. Even our production house (Excel) has released films on the same Friday as other big films. Quite recently Bajirao Mastani and Dilwale were released on the same day. They both did well. I'd wish and pray that Raees and the Roshans' Kaabil would both do well," Farhan added.
Raees also has Pakistani actress Mahira Khan and ace actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui in key roles.
On the other hand, the trailer of Kaabil has been creating waves among the audience. The lead, Hrithik and Yami Gautam, play a blind couple in the movie. In fact, Kaabil trailer has created history by becoming the most viewed Bollywood trailer on social media platforms with more than 23 million views since its release on October 25.
