Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan box office clash averted: Raees release date moved

Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan were headed for a clash at the box office in July with their upcoming movies Raees and Sultan respectively. However, the much talked about face-off has been averted after Raees filmmakers postponed the movie's release date to 26 January 2017.

"It was not an easy decision to move the film. We understand that Raees is highly anticipated. However, a film of such magnitude requires the appropriate showcasing and therefore, we have decided to shift our release date to 26th January 2017," Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar said in a joint statement, according to DNA.

Some reports have speculated that the move to change the release is because SRK's latest film Fan did not do so well as expected at the box office. The movie was released on 15 April and has garnered about $12.5m (£8.62m) in India. Moreover, the delayed release will also avoid a clash with Salman Khan, who for some years now has given a series of blockbuster movies during Eid. Dabangg (2010), Bodyguard (2011), Ek Tha Tiger (2012), Kick (2014) and Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015) are some of the actor's superhit movies released on Eid. Sultan opens in theatres on 6 July.

"First, it's not a clash. There are only 365 days, 54 Fridays, we make 200 films, it's bound to happen that some films will release on the same Friday and most of the people involved in both these films are friends. Adi is producing it, Salman is acting in it; Excel is producing it (Raees), Red Chillies is doing it, I am part of it," SRK had said last summer, according to BollywoodHungama.