Is Akshay Kumar risking Mission Mangal fortunes by pitting against Prabhas' Saaho?

Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar is apparently risking the fortunes of Mission Mangal at the box office, by releasing it with Prabhas' upcoming movie Saaho on August 15, India's Independence Day.

Independence Day is one of the few occasions, which most of the filmmakers in India try to cash in on, but they make sure to avoid clashes at the box office as much as possible. However, Mission Mangal, Saaho and Batla House will pit against each other from August 15 and their clash has raised big concerns over their collection, as they eat away each other's prospects and end up incurring losses.

Among these three films, Saaho is undoubtedly the most hyped movie for some obvious reasons. Firstly, it is the next release of Prabhas after the historical success of Baahubali 2, which has generated massive hype for the film. Secondly, it is simultaneously released in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam and it will completely capture the market in south India.

Prabhas has made a huge fanbase for himself in north India with his performance in Baahubali film series and his fans are eagerly waiting for the release of Saaho. Saaho features Shraddha Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Murli Sharma, Evelyn Sharma, Chunky Pandey, Mandira Bedi and Mahesh Manjrekar in its ensemble cast. Their presence has doubled the curiosity about the movie.

Secondly, the makers of Saaho have adapted unique strategies to promote it and its promos have grabbed many eyeballs. The four versions of its teaser together fetched 60 million digital views in 24 hours and its Hindi version alone fetched 50 per cent of these views. These number itself gives an idea about the magnitude of craze for the Sujeeth-directed action extravaganza across the domestic market.

On the other hand, unlike Akshay Kumar's other films, Mission Mangal lacks hype, as the makers have kept everything under wraps and they are yet to release any of its promos like first look, poster, stills and teaser. This movie is lesser known to the audience than Batla House starring John Abraham.

Mission Mangal will have a tough time in getting enough number of cinema halls due to its clash with Saaho and Batla House. The lack of hype and curiosity may lead to a lesser number of footfalls, as many filmgoers would prefer to watch Prabhas and John Abraham's film. These two aspects may end up the Akshay Kumar starrer incurring huge losses to its distributors.

It was recently rumoured that Akshay Kumar had decided to advance the release of Mission Mangal by a week to avoid its clash with Saaho and Batla House. But the makers slammed the reports, saying that the movie would hit the screens on the scheduled time and there is no change in its release date. They will definitely pay a huge price for their decision of not averting its clash.