After 'Chennai Express', Shah Rukh Khan's Next 'Raees' to Release During Eid

Shah Rukh Khan starrer "Raees" that faced much delay owing to the packed schedule of the superstar, will finally kick start by March-end.

Producer Ritesh Sidhwani has confirmed that the shooting will begin from 28 March in Mumbai and is looking for an Eid 2016 release.

"The shoot will commence from March 28 in Mumbai. We plan to release it on Eid next year," he told Mid-Day.

However, Sidhwani mentioned that the major portions of the film will be shot in September as the "Happy New Year" actor apparently wants to first wrap up Rohit Shetty's much ambitious film "Dilwale".

The story of "Raees" is set in the 1980s in Ahmedabad and director Rahul Dholakia plans to film some portions of the film in old Ahmedabad and Saurashtra.

"Raees" has Khan play a bootlegger and is based on a real-life character. However, Dholakia during an interview with DNA, had clarifed the superstar's role. "His character started off as a real-life person. But as we wrote and re-wrote several drafts of the script Shah Rukh's character become more and more fictional," he said.

"He (SRK) plays a man from the ghetto in Gujarat. He dresses and speaks in a particular manner." Dholakia added.

Earlier, Farah Akhtar was supposed to share the screen space with the Badshah of Bollywood. However, the "Rock On!" actor had to opt out of the project as his dates clashed with Bejoy Nambiar's "Wazir".

Nawazuddin Siddiqui has now replaced Akhtar and will be seen playing the role of a cop.

Back in Eid 2013, SRK's "Chennai Express" released worldwide and turned out to be a blockbuster. The film entered the 200 crore club, breaking Aamir Khan's "3 Idiots" box office collection. And now, with Khan blocking next year's Eid slot for "Raees", it appears like the film might also end up breaking a few box office records.

Meanwhile, SRK is busy shooting for Maneesh Sharma's "Fan", in which he plays a double role; one as a superstar and the other a commoner.