Industry insiders say, unless the makers of both films meet and work out a solution, the clash between Shah Rukh Khan’s Raees and Salman Khan’s Sultan is certain to take place.
The Raees camp is holding on to the lucrative Eid release date for two reasons. One, their film would be ready in a couple of months, but there is still a chance that Sultan could be delayed. With 6 months to go for Eid, about 3 months of Sultan shoot is still left.
Secondly, the makers of Raees appear to be extremely confident of the film that they have made. Even if Raees doesn’t get a bigger opening than Sultan, producer Farhan Akhtar publicly said it’s the content that works in the long run.
At a promotional campaign for Wazir, Akhtar said “The opening numbers of both Raees and Sultan will be affected, but I think in the long run it is the word of mouth publicity which will matter. There cannot be a better publicity than people coming out and speaking about it. A good word of mouth would ensure a long run (for Raees) at the box office”
Meanwhile, the industry is abuzz with news of ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’ star Anushka Sharma joining the Sultan team as the female lead. After Deepika Padukone (who made her debut in Om Shanti Om) in Bajirao Mastani, another heroine who was launched in a Shah Rukh Khan film, would be in the opposite camp.
The contest is likely to be evenly matched, even though the Sultan camp will be holding the psychological advantage after the success of Bajirao Mastani and the fact that Salman has dominated Eid in the last few years.
When two big films clash, the impact of the clash is more pronounced in the domestic market. The chances of both films working here in India is less. The distribution angle will be interesting, as Sultan is backed by all-powerful Yash Raj Films. But Aditya Chopra is close to Shah Rukh, so it remains to be seen what sort of impact their personal equation has on the clash and division of screens and shows in India.
The battle in the overseas markets would be something to watch out too. Shah Rukh has been the numero uno star for nearly 2 decades and the outstanding performance of Dilwale, inspite of competition, has reaffirmed his status as the biggest crowd puller overseas.
But Salman, who was a distant third (after SRK and Aamir) in the overseas markets, took a huge leap with Bajrangi Bhaijaan – which became the highest overseas grosser in Phase 1 of release (overall 3rd). Prem Ratan Dhan Payo performed reasonably well too.
Raees, directed by Rahul Dholakia, stars Shah Rukh, Mahira Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Sultan, directed by Ali Abbas Zafaar, features Salman Khan, Anushka Sharma and Randeep Hooda.
SULTAN all the way because it has SALMAN. Even Ali Abbas said it is a content + human emotions + commercial film. SRK lost to Deepika in BM, now Anushka in Sultan.
its going to be the mother of all clashes .
raees should be postponed for good I am not srk hater or sk lover but as per the current scenario sultan will have an edge over raees even srk fans know that.
I want both the movies to fare well I just hope that the clash gets averted and one of the movie comes on 2nd Oct probably raees coz salman just owns eid
Sultan all the way like bajirao…sharukh doesn’t deserve holiday…he makes fool of public
A film, which shooting will be wrapped by the end of this month VS a film, where female lead is yet to be finalized.
Should we need anything else to conclude, which movie will be high on content ?
Plus I suspect if post-production work of Sultan will be completed by July. And even though if they complete it somehow, there will be huge compromise with the quality.
But same is not the case with Raees. They have ample amount of time to mould the things in their favor.
And excuse me Indicine, “Eid was dominated by Salman”. Really ?
He was struggling with his regular masala craps to go past 3 idiots for 4 complete years, but couldn’t success. Whereas SRK came with a single masala flick on Eid and all existing records were thrashed.
So don’t say , “eid was dominated bu Salman”. yes, he is most successful on Eid among others because he released most of his movies on Eid.
But the word “Dominance” can be used if others too release their movies frequently on Eid and if they fail.
Bhojpuri’s movie did not work without EID even he can’t break record and SRK comes 2013 and broke every single record . time will tell who will be winner .
I feel one movie will eventually back out. If not, then Indicine u are going to get an unbelievable amount of traffic/hits on the release date and surely all your previous records will be broken :)
Raees Bhai this Eid.
Dilwale vs Bajirao Mastani. It’s all over! Bajirao Mastani won the clash. SRK will lose the next clash too #ShantaramPredicts #SULTANvRAEES
Only Raees will rule.
Even with extremly +ve wom… Raees will not collect more than 250 with or without clash
Content-wise Raees could be the Bajirao of the clash, and Sultan could be the Dilwale of the clash. What went against SRK in Dilwale vs Bajiroa could work in his favor.
I would expect Raees to open to 15-20 on day 1 and Sultan to open at 20-25 on day 1, but Raees to win the overall race.
Forget Salman and Shahrukh locking horns for box-office supremacy. “Raees” is directed by Rahul Dholakia who has made a gut-wrenching, haunting classic like “Parzania” while “Sultan” is being helmed by Ali Abbas Zafar who has deplorable films like “Gunday” and “Mere Brother Ki Dulhan” to his credit, and we’ve all seen how a far superior film wins the box-office battle, and wins it comprehensively in the long run. That’s where a director’s mastery over his craft lends an all-important edge to his film. Dholakia’s dexterity has already been proven. The less said about Zafar’s skills or the lack of them, the better.
Also, what I feel is, Raees will mostly be based on Muslim culture and background (as its a real life story of Gujrati Don who was Muslim) whereas Sultan will be based on Hariyanvi culture.
So in that way too, Raees will be a visual treat for muslim fans who will celebrate the Eid festival with Raees.
One can deny the fact, but background of story affects the release dates.
Perhaps that is the reason, Akshay came with Baby/Airlift type of patriotic movies on Republic day, whereas Satyagraha, Phantom etc were released during Independence Day weekend.
I will b supporting Raees which looks like the Bajirao of this clash
I will watch Sultan First Day First Show.
But I really liked Raees teaser hence will be watching this movie too, first day second show may be.
Bhaag SRK Bhaag
Sultan may lead by some margin..Raees seems intresting as well !!
Its akshay n salman going to rule in 2016…raees is not even in competition…no one will see the old man on eid
Salman is biggest mega Star and Raees makers will postpone for Sure or else another one defeat is coming on Srk way
SULTAN will release on EID
Raees will be postponed to 2nd Oct or Diwali to clash with ADHM & Shivay
Raees all the way….
Shah Rukh Khan becomes the fastest actor to enter Rs 2000 crore club in Bollywood!
SULTAN will release on EID
RAEES should target Diwali or non holiday weeknd
Rohit shetty was also confident about dilwale but what we saw was a huge blunder. As far as sultan is concerned it will definitely release on eid with raees or without does not matter to baap of box office salman khan. Anushka is a good choice and the film will be a complete entertainer. Srkians please come out of the trauma after the failure of dahiwale aur fan ko hit karwa sakte ho to karwalo and dont comment rubbish on other star films indicine please post my comment.
EID hamesha BHAI ki hai or BHAI ki hi rahegi ?
and talking about producer of CRAPEES (farhan akhter)… Better he should avoid to talk about content bcoz even he called Wazir a content driven film and say it was also Lambi race ka ghoda but after the response it barely run for 2 weeks… So akhtar sahab nice try but it doesn’t work to promote u’r film ?
Only SULTAN ALI KHAN on EID ?
Mark my word Eid Clash will not alert
Because both Salman & SRK have fear of failure outside EDX (Eid.Diwali.Xmas) holidays
We have gotten used to watching a Salman film on Eid and after the success of BB will clearly have more screens.The track record that Salman has on Eid is unmatchable from Wanted to BB,clashing with Salman and YRJ combo is suicidal we all remembered what happened when these two came together,every one thought a 30cr+ openning was impossible but ETT achieved that with occupancy of btwn 95-100%.
Sultan will be a clear winner.
Sultan will be huge.
Facts:
Content – even Amir doing same type movie, sultan release first.
Pair: it’s fresh pair in Bollywood that everyone wants to see.
Powerful supporting cast: Randeep is one of the talent actor in the industry.
Salman : Name enough.
So, SULTAN will clear winner.
Sultan all the way salman will beat srk this time by huge margin just wait n watch
I am eagerly waiting for the clash.
On this Christmas srks movie had a weak content but now the tables have turned.Raees is directed by a national award winning director produced by farhan who’s known for backing quality films.So there’s no doubt that raees will be way better than sultan when it comes to content.
And why salman is so insecure about his product.Is he scared to release his movie on a non holiday.Without finalising the heroine or even before beginning the shoot they have booked EID.An act of cowardice to put it in plain words