Raees Maybe Winning At The Box Office But Here's Why Shah Rukh Khan Has Lost Our Respect!

After a delay of 2 long years Raees finally found his way to the box office this Republic Day, but sadly the day wasn’t as auspicious for Bollywood as it could at any other occasion. The clash between Raees and Hrithik Roshan’s Kaabil has become more a matter of regret than rejoice, as it’s hardly a thing to be proud off when one Bollywood biggie tries to snub another.

The repercussions of the clash are beyond the box office collections of both films. A famous producer/director like Rakesh Roshan threatening to quit film making is hardly a good sign to begin with. More over the clash puts both films at loss barring them from making bigger profits. According to Bollywood trade analyst, Amod Mehra, Raees could have grossed 40 to 45 crores on it’s very first day had it not clashed with Kaabil. The first day collection of Raees stands a little over 20 crores while that of Kaabil was a little over 10 crores.

Shah Rukh Khan is a formidable figure in Bollywood and given his massive fan following any producer would think twice before locking horns with his film at the box office. We bet even Shah Rukh is completely aware of the repercussions of such a clash and thus we also know that he was aware of what the release of Raees alongside Kaabil this Republic Day meant for Hrithik Roshan and Rakesh Roshan.

Raees maybe grossing higher at the box office and Shah Rukh Khan is earning good remarks for his performance in the movie, but the conscious decision to clash with Kaabil hardly suits his image as a respected individual in Bollywood, especially since he knew all along that Hrithik Roshan had announced the release date for Kaabil first.

Shah Rukh’s Raees was all set and ready for release on Eid 2016 but the makers developed cold feet when it came to a clash with Salman Khan’s Sultan, which was one of 2016’s highest grossing films. Shah Rukh was quoted saying in an interview, “We have two reasons. One is that me and Salman spoke about it that big films have their level release wise. They should get released in at least 3500 to 4000 theatres at one time. We all have faced it at certain point of time that two big films came together and did not get the desired theatrical release. This is quite a bog loss for the budget of the film. Till the time we have 8,000-9,000 theatres for release of two big films, this cannot happen,” he said.

So after having said that did Shah Rukh assume that Kaabil was a smaller film to clash with? Even if he did question the stature of the film Kaabil is, did he feel it was any bit exciting to consciously sub the film at the box office, especially after knowing the sort of reservations Rakesh Roshan had about the idea??

Hrithik and Shah Rukh had a humble exchange over Twitter on the day of the release where both wished each other well for their films. Shah Rukh added that he wished that he could have avoided the clash, but we wonder why he said it? Either be upfront about the collision that he himself caused or not mention it at all!! Mentioning the clash and saying that he hoped it could avoided is a sure shot sign of his hypocrisy! 

Well, it would great in that case if Shah Rukh got a reality check on his real stand in Bollywood after locking horns with an actor as big as him! Of course that would be a foolish move and next to suicide for both films but that would indeed bring the Bollywood biggies like Shah Rukh down from their high and give them a taste of their own medicine!

Raees opened across 3500 screens while Kaabil only got 2700 screens. Rakesh Roshan said in an interview with Bollywood Hungama recently, “We were assured the distribution of theatres and screens between the two films this week (Kaabil and Raees) would be equal. The ratio of screens promised was 50: 50. To our shock on the morning of release we discovered that we had been given only 40 percent of the screens.”

Source: bollywoodlife

That being unfair and unprofessional it was expected in such a clash. While Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan are friends again we know for a fact that this wouldn’t have happened if Shah Rukh went forward to clash with Sultan last year. It is certainly a smart move if we go by the saying, keep your friends close but your enemies closer. That said it costs lesser to make enemies with Hrithik or that is what the clash indicates.

The Raees versus Kaabil fiasco is a lesson to Bollywood in many ways. It also brings out the fact that relationships of goodwill can certainly be walked over and trampled under the weight of influence and star power!

With a star like Shah Rukh Khan in the middle of such deliberate pinning down of another good film, we just lost a little bit faith in Bollywood!