Chitti Chitti, Khan Khan? Crowdpullers both, Bolly actor Salman Khan is slated to take on South megastar, Rajinikanth at the box-office in December

Chitti Chitti, Khan Khan?

Crowdpullers both, Bolly actor Salman Khan is slated to take on South megastar, Rajinikanth at the box-office in December

Actor Salman Khan seems to have moved on from frenemy Shah Rukh Khan, as the trade buzz is that he’ll be having a face-off of sorts with his film clashing with that of the ‘hero of the masses’, South actor Rajinikanth in December. It’s that time of the year when the release of big budget films have been planned as it’s the festival season. Since there are not too many film slots around the time, big films end up clashing with each other. Something similar is set to happen this December as South superstar Rajinikanth’s film Kochadaiyaan is scheduled to release on December 12 and actor Salman Khan’s Dabangg 2 on December 21. Unlike the clash of SRK’s film with actor Ajay Devgn’s inDiwali that led to a lot of reshuffling, both Salman and Rajini are apparently unperturbed by the turn of events. None has made a move to pre-pone or postpone their films. Says a source close to Salman, “Bhai had locked the date of the film’s release even before it went on the floors. And he has no intention to change it now.” Will this affect the film’s success chances at the BO? Says trade analyst, Bharti Pradhan, “I have always maintained that if the films are good, it will make no difference to their success if they are released on the same day. Dil and Ghayal released on the same day, but both went on to become huge hits. People don’t necessarily choose between two films, if they are good, they watch both.” While there is a good gap of nine days between Kochadaiyaan and Dabangg 2, a veteran film maker predicts that the films’ business will be affected. “Nine days is a good enough time for a film to do good business. Though with big releases, three weeks is what it usually takes. Even though his film’s business could be a tad affected, the Rajini brand will remain unaffected. Both, he and Salman are confident that their films will do good business,” he says. Looks like, it’s going to be one helluva crackling X’mas at the BO this year!