'Raees' release date changed: Will it affect Shah Rukh Khan's friendship with Hrithik Roshan?

Shah Rukh Khan and Excel Entertainment producers Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar have blocked Jan. 26, 2017 as the release date for "Raees." The sad bit is it will clash with Hrithik Roshan's "Kaabil" and Ajay Devgn's "Baadshaho."

One question comes to mind: will the clash sour the friendship SRK shares with Hrithik and his rapport with Ajay? Going by the "Shivaay" star's recent comment on box office wars, it doesn't look like it will be much of a problem.

"If I take it personally, it will upset me but if I look at it from a business point of view, then I would say it's fair enough. You feel the person shouldn't have done it, but you accept it because he must have his reasons," Catch News quoted Ajay as saying.

Meanwhile, industry sources have said SRK had apparently met Hrithik, asking if "Kaabil" could be moved to another date, but he was told that the decision was one to be taken by Rakesh Roshan and director Sanjay Gupta. Later, when the 50-year-old actor called up the senior Roshan, he "flatly" refused, saying the dates were locked many months ago, the Asian Age reported.

Interestingly Rakesh denied being approached by SRK or anyone else associated with "Raees." "No one approached me, my release date was announced in February this year for 26th January, 2017 and I am sticking to it. Who comes or who doesn't is not my problem," he told the daily.

Meanwhile, Milan Luthria, whose "Baadshaho" will be out on the same date, said they aren't shifting their film, adding that the dates were announced long ago.

Together, Shah Rukh, Farhan and Ritesh have put out an official statement (confirming the release date of "Raees"), in which they said they wouldn't want to clash with films featuring A-listers this year. "It was not an easy decision to move the film. We understand that 'Raees' is highly anticipated. However, a film of such magnitude requires the appropriate showcasing and therefore, we have decided to shift our release date to January 26, 2017," the note read.

What's strange is, if they were looking at a solo run at the box office then why would they pick a date that already has films featuring big-ticket stars?