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Raees, despite getting mixed reviews from the Indian media, has ended up becoming a bigger critical success than its releasing-day competitor, Kaabil.

Starring Hrithik Roshan, Kaabil, the film that clashed with King Khan’s film ended up earning INR 10.43 Crore at the box office according to Indian media reports. However, Raees ended up earning almost twice that with a wholesome INR 21.42 Crore.

Revolving around the story of the eponymous Raees, the film delves into the life of the Gujarati bootlegger, Raees Alam, whereas Kaabil narrates the story of two blind people falling in love, all packed with some action. However, if Rakesh Roshan, and not the audiences’ polls, is to be believed, the former did better because his son’s film ‘was not given enough screens.’

The Mahira and Shah Rukh Khan starrer ends up earning INR 200 Million

“I was in a shock when I opened the newspapers today and saw the listings of the theaters. I tried my best to tell all the exhibitors that you have to set the trend for clashing films: they have to go 50-50. People don’t have so much money to spend in a week, to watch two films,” Roshan had told an Indian website.

Despite Raees’ clear lead on its competitor on its opening week, it seems that the battle (of words) is still going on between the producers. Thankfully, it doesn’t extend to the stars as Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan are on best of terms, evident from their banter on Twitter.

So, who do you think will win? Raees or Kaabil?

Shahjehan Saleem

The author is Contributing Editor at Something Haute as well as a professor in the Media Sciences department at SZABIST, Karachi. Socio-cultural theories and geography fill up the rest of his time.