It is indeed the clash of the titans at the box office this Republic Day weekend – the Shah Rukh Khan starrer Raees is in direct competition with the Hrithik Roshan starrer Kaabil at the box office. If you're a particular fan of one of the other stars, your choice may be easy; if not you're probably wondering which film to spend your valuable time and money on.
The ratings for Raees range from 2 to 3.5 stars. Some critics thought the film was a bit of mishmash, and a typical gangster film with some over the top moments; others thought that it was a fast paced, entertaining, highly watchable film. Overall the ratings from the critics are higher for Kaabil, and range from two stars all the way up to 4.5 stars – some thought the film was brilliant, others thought it was an overdone melodrama.
The viewers have given a thumbs up to the SRK starrer Raees, if we go by box office collections. While Kaabil raked in over Rs 10 crores on the first day, Raees collected over Rs 20 crores.
While both films have generated a positive buzz and word of mouth reviews are good for both, trade pundits have opined that Raees has more mass appeal, killer dialogues and appealing music in its favor; which gives this film the edge over Kaabil. While the former is the story of a bootlegger gangster, the latter is the revenge saga of a blind couple, a rape and the subsequent avenging of that rape.
Some trade pundits feel that it was a mistake for the makers of Kaabil to position their film in direct competition with Raees; a bit of risk that seems not to have paid off. The perception is that you tangle with the Baadshah of Bollywood only at your own cost. Quite simply, SRK is the bigger star with mass appeal.
Another reason that has influenced box office takings is the number of screens the films have released across: 3500 for Raees, 2700 for Kaabil. Earlier Hrithik Roshan had tweeted that he was disappointed at this 60:40 screen ratio for his film. So it is quite likely that you will have more options in terms of locations and film timings if you decide on Raees this weekend.
Do you have something interesting you would like to share? Write to us at [email protected]
