Touted as one of the biggest box-office clashes ever,
Shah Rukh Khan’s Raees and Hrithik Roshan’s Kaabil met head-on at the
box-office on January 25. But who emerged victorious? According to industry
pundits, no one.
The clash has been the talk of the town for a good month
now.
After going back and forth many times, it was announced
that both the films will release on January 25. Then there was the tug-of-war
over the allocation of screens with Raees getting 60 percent of the screens
while Kaabil had to make do with less.
Image Source: twitter/RaeesTheFilm & FilmKraft
After many interviews, arguments and explanations, what have Raees and Kaabil finally achieved?
According to trade estimates, by Tuesday Rahul Dholakia’s directorial Raees has reportedly made nearly Rs 100 crore while Kaabil, directed by Sanjay Gupta, has clocked in around Rs 75 crore.
Hrithik Roshan had come out and candidly said that if
Kaabil would have released solo, it would have easily made more money. And
trade analyst Komal Nahta agrees.
"Kaabil was badly affected by Raees. The collection
was average but Hrithik’s action film could have performed better. If Kaabil
hadn’t released on the same date as Raees, the film would have easily made Rs
12-14 crore more per day," Nahta told SpotboyE.com.
Image Source: twitter/RaeesTheFilm
While self proclaimed film critic Kamal R Khan tweeted in
support of Kaabil over Raees, expert Amod Mehra says that it was a bad move on
the part of the makers of Kaabil to clash with an SRK starrer.
“It was a fallacious move by the makers of Kaabil.
With a film like Kaabil that showcased deep issues like murder and rape, the content
automatically results in a niche audeince. Had it released on another date, it
would have succeeded. Cribbing over the clash of theatres was pointless!
Especially when a commercial film like Raees was released opposite to it.
Kaabil easily lost 30-40crores,” said Mehra.
Film distributor-exhibitor Akshay Rathi maintained,
“Irrespective of the distribution of theatres, individuals made their choice.”
Image Source: twitter/FilmKraft
A leading distributor, requesting anonymity, put it
concisely and perhaps correctly: “Both the films suffered. Neither Kaabil, nor
Raees reached its full potential because each ate into the other’s share of
box-office collections.”
Massive egos were at play here. Like in a fistfight,
punches landed on both parties and both Shah Rukh and Hrithik were injured.
What is also hurting is that both the films- Raees and Kaabil- were never seen in singularity. There were only comparisons. Tsk, tsk...
Thumbnail Image Source: twitter/RaeesTheFilm & FilmKraft