'Raees' vs 'Kaabil': Who won the year's first box office battle?

Shah Rukh Khan in 'Raees'

First, the good news - Shah Rukh Khan's 'Raees' and Hrithik Roshan-starrer 'Kaabil', which took on each other in the first major clash of 2017, have managed to break the January jinx by posting a collective total of Rs 150-odd crore at the domestic box office. The bad news - division of business, with neither film making what it set out to.

At the end of the five-day weekend, 'Raees' pocketed over Rs 93 crore, beating 'Kaabil' by a Rs 26-crore margin. Trade expert Amod Mehra says, "Two big releases on the same day was unfortunate, and in the process, both lost out. As a solo release, 'Raees' could have easily been a blockbuster. 'Kaabil', too, could have raked in much more money. So, there is no winner in this clash."

'Kaabil'

Box office analyst Komal Nahta also believes the two films could have fared better had it been for a solo release window. "'Kaabil' was badly affected on day one due to the pre-release buzz (referring to high advance booking for 'Raees'). 'Raees' was relatively less affected. Yes, it too could have earned more if there was no clash, but in this case, 'Kaabil' suffered the brunt."

Nahta, however, blames it on the unequal division of screens - 'Raees' was allotted 2700 across multiplexes and single screen theatres while 'Kaabil' got 500 less. "In the long run, I am expecting a lifetime difference of Rs 150 crore between the two films, but it's difficult to say at this point if 'Kaabil' will touch Rs 100 crore."

Distributor-exhibitor Akshaye Rathi asserts that the collections have been as per expectations, considering it was an extended weekend. "Despite the buzz, everyone was looking at an underwhelming January 26 at the cash counters.

There is a myth that R-Day releases don't do phenomenally well, but after Airlift (2016) and even films like Agneepath (2012), the contrary has been proven true. Compared to the hype, both films have done just about average business."

Rathi adds while 'Raees' is eyeing a lifetime collection of R130 crore, 'Kaabil' will find it hard to go beyond the Rs 100 crore mark. "As far as the budgets are concerned, neither will incur losses. 'Kaabil' is a reasonably priced film with the cost of production pegged at Rs 50 crore. Of that, producers have already sold the rights to distributors in the country for Rs 40 crore. Rakeshji (Roshan, producer of 'Kaabil') is in the safe zone.

As far as 'Raees' is concerned, it is doing extremely well overseas, which is an advantage for the producers, so they will easily break even," he explains.