Kaabil Vs Raees: Desperate SRK Goes Begging Again!

Looks like the film industry has made its mind to conspire against Shah Rukh Khan and not give his upcoming release Raees a vacant release slot. Originally announced as an Eid 2016 release, the film had to back out owing to the clash with Salman Khan’s Sultan. Post this, when the makers decided to release their film next year on January 26, it was Hrithik Roshan along with Papa Rakesh to spoil their party. The Roshans have already booked Republic Day next year for their upcoming film Kaabil. Now what does Shah Rukh do in this situation?

King Khan hasn’t had the best of times lately given how underwhelming his previous two films have performed. To make sure Raees doesn’t suffer the same syndrome in the process, the actor is going lengths to prevent this clash. He along with producer Ritesh Sidhwani made a visit to Rakesh Roshan a couple of days ago where they apparently discussed averting this clash.

While Raees of course if bigger of the two films releasing that day, somehow it is Shah Rukh who looks more uncomfortable and nervous with the whole thing. Having already sent a chickening out message by not coming out on Eid, SRK is now showing signs of desperation.

So why is it that King Khan is getting so nervous and struggling to find a perfect release date for his film?

Discouraging Box Office Trends

For the first time in last 5 years, Shah Rukh’s major mainstream box office outing couldn’t even do a business of 100 crores. One of his most ambitious projects to date, Fan was the biggest surprise flop of the year and that makes SRK extra cautious.

Bajirao Mastani Beating Dilwale

When Bhansali decided to clash with SRK’s Dilwale last year on Christmas, people thought he was making a mistake. However, the end result was something totally in contrast. Bajirao had beaten Dilwale by a huge margin and this was enough to make Shah Rukh realize that he just cannot take on anybody like that. His experiences with clashes haven’t been very uphill in the last few years.

Backing Out of Eid Clash With Salman

While trends hadn’t been favoring Shah Rukh with numbers to warrant it, there was no way Shah Rukh could have afforded to take on Salman. Yes, that was a correct thing to do at the time but he did showcase his weakness in this case. In fact, he chose to not come out this year at all and shifted his film to 2017. Having gone through a rough box office patch lately, Shah Rukh Khan desperately wants a solo release for Raees and gain back his lost momentum.

At a time when Sultan is making 300 crores, Shah Rukh knows he has to get his cards right to earn Raees a deserving fate. The pandemonium around him has taken a rather dark shade lately and it stands to reason Shah Rukh gets his aura back.

With Kaabil now in the fray, it will be very interesting to see how things transpire at this stage. Shah Rukh in the name of wider audience outreach has appealed that no two big films should release on the same day. What he really means is ‘Just give a freaking vacant release date to release my film, will ya?’!

You know what Shah Rukh should do? Wait for the results of Mohenjo Daro Vs Rustom clash. In case it’s Hrithik who’s made to kneel, he’d back out from Kaabil-Raees clash himself, if not, it’s still not too late to keep begging.