“Kaabil will see a full-fledged global release at 6 PM on January 25” – Rakesh Roshan

December 3, 2016 - 8:17 PM IST

It has been decided. Kaabil is now arriving an evening earlier than its original January 26 release plans. The film would be unveiled on Wednesday January 25. However, unlike many other preview evenings in the past where films arrive on select screens only, Kaabil is having huge plans for itself. It would actually see a full-fledged release all over from evening shows onwards.

“Kaabil will see a full-fledged global release at 6 PM on January 25” – Rakesh Roshan

Confirms Rakesh Roshan, producer of Kaabil, "Yes, our film will see a full-fledged global release at 6 PM on January 25. Neither is it going to be restricted for select screens nor would it be treated like Paid Previews. Instead, all screens that would be finalized to play Kaabil from Thursday, January 26, would be screening Kaabil from the evening before itself."

That is expected to give good boost to the film's collections, considering the fact that an evening before a big National holiday is traditionally considered to be quite lucrative for the business.

"Yes, we are expecting good footfalls right from Wednesday evening itself as audience would be hungry for a biggie to hit the screens after Dangal," says a source attached to Kaabil, "The Aamir Khan starrer arrives on December 23 and we come on January 25. It is just the right time to unleash our film."

Though the clash with Raees still seems likely, considering the fact that Shahrukh Khan and his team have not yet disclosed any other plans on the contrary, at least Kaabil would be aiming to take a head-start of sorts.

Says Rakesh Roshan, who was requested by his distributors to opt for Wednesday 6 PM release, "There have been instances in the past of movies being released mid-week, especially if there is a big National holiday following it. My director Sanjay Gupta and I are in agreement on this. After hearing what our distributors have to say, we thought it makes perfect sense go with a January 25 release.''

Meanwhile one waits to see what truly entails once Shahrukh Khan unveils the promo of Raees.

"If Raees sticks to January 26 release, it is bound to impact both Kaabil as well as Raees," an insider comments, "There is a limited window of 300 crore for a biggie arriving on a holiday. When two films arrive, it would end up dividing the business. Shahrukh is Hrithik's senior by a decade. His stakes are much higher too. He could well be aiming for a Rs. 250-300 crores number for Raees. Coming with Kaabil would only end up being counter-productive. Even Kaabil would lose a substantial chunk of moolah that could have otherwise come in."

Since Kaabil has been sold for just Rs. 50 crores to the distributors, the film needs only Rs. 100 crores in domestic theatrical revenues to break even. A clash would mean the film could conclude in the vicinity of around Rs. 150 crores at best. Ditto for Raees which would have limited opportunity to go past the Rs. 200 crores mark, especially considering the fact that Akshay Kumar's Jolly LLB 2 arrives on February 10.

Considering the fact that Shahrukh Khan can hit a six, a clash with Kaabil could well be restricting him to scoring a boundary instead.