Raees clash with Sultan was bothering the industry a lot, we feel. Every other day somebody would predict one of them shifting their release date. It was mostly Shah Rukh Khans Raeeswhich was expected to step down and it did. The actor along with Excel Entertainment's Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar announced that the film has now been postponed to January 26 next year. So we thought of asking trade experts if it's a beneficial decision or not and this is what they said.
Trade expert, Akshay Rathi feels it certainly is a good decision. "When stakes are so high and there are cordial equations between Shah Rukh and Salman or more importantly, SRK and Aditya Chopra, it's a gracious gesture to allow each other their space. It will benefit both the films and give them maximum potential in sharing screen space." But he still felt Eid was a good time for both. "Eid is particularly an interesting period for both the films. If you notice, both of them play Muslim characters. The kind of action that there is in Raees, it would have been a phenomenal date for the film had they decided to not move. Having said that, the cinema infrastructure in India to accommodate two films which are as mammoth as these with superstars who are equally big, will chip some business off each other. In ideal case scenario for optimum business, it is good that both come on different national holidays. But honestly, even if both the film come together, they will do what they deserve to do," reminds Rathi.
But Trade Analyst, Amul Mohan feels Fan's box office collection has much to do with the decision. "They might be looking for a good date to release the film. It's a big film. Especially what happened with Fan now, I can understand the producers or actor Shah Rukh Khan might be a bit apprehensive. There might be deeper issues or situations too. There was a strong buzz in the first week of Fan itself that the film will get pushed. The idea is to not come out with a film like Sultan. We all know how brilliant Salman is doing right now. It's unlikely that it will release this year because all the prominent dates have already been locked," explains Mohan.
He is also of the opinion that had Fan done better at the box office, things would have been the other way round. "For instance if Fan had done well to around 100-200 crores hypothetically,Sultan would have been in a fix. It could have just scared Sultan off. But given the position Fanhas got itself into, you are on a backfoot. I don't know if it's a wise decision but I feel it is a right decision to make right now. When a SRK film doesn't even cross 80 cr properly, you know there is a problem. It's a very simple psychological assessment of the situation," elaborates Mohan.
Another Trade expert Amod Mehra was pretty blunt about Raees' credibility. He said, "Any film which is announced and keeps on delaying loses credibility more and more. Credibility diminishes. It never improves. The more they push it, it will be more bad for them especially after Fan not working. It will give wrong signals to fans of Shah Rukh Khan, ki Shah Rukh dar gaya and as it is said in Sholay, jo dar gaya woh mar gaya. Raees is about underworld, maybe a bit of Robinhood. Now they are trying to making him that. Actually, he is not a robinhood. He is a bootlegger. When it's Eid or Diwali or Christmas, you want to see happy films. You don't want to see underworld or don. Sultan will be a family film. It will have lighter moments. It will take a bigger opening, so what's the point of clashing then. See what happened to Dilwale. Bajirao Mastani didn't get squashed."
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