'We had decided release date long back': Shah Rukh on Raees-Kaabil clash

Mumbai: Superstar Shah Rukh Khan, whose upcoming film 'Raaes' is set to lock horns with Hrithik Roshan starrer 'Kaabil', says they had decided to prepone the release date earlier but wanted it to be announced through the trailer.

Earlier 'Raaes' was scheduled to release on January 26 and now it has been preponed by a day. It will now hit theatres on January 25.

Few days ago, Rakesh Roshan, producer of 'Kaabil', had announced January 25 as the release date of his film.

"We had actually decided about the release date long back. First both the films ('Raaes' and 'Kaabil') were going to release on January 26, so we had decided with our exhibitors and distributors about coming out on January 25," Shah Rukh told reporters here at the trailer launch of 'Raaes'.

"I guess 'Kaabil' is coming out in the evening shows of January 25 and we would be coming on the regular shows on the same day. There is nothing like we decided later... it is a wise decision to take note that January 26 is a holiday. We thought it would be better to let people know about the release date through our trailer."

SRK says in India there is still a dearth of theatres. "I may be wrong with numbers. I have heard that in England there is one theatre for ten thousand people and in America there are ten theatres for one thousand people. India has a shortage of theatres. There should be more theatres in small towns and cities.

"In China, the films do three to five times more than our business and that is because of the number of theatres. We are trying to have a new chain and more theatres. In America and London, you don't hear of clash as there are more theatres."

'Raees' stars Shah Rukh as bootlegger, Nawazuddin Siddiqui as a cop while Mahira Khan plays SRK's love interest.