Release date options for Shah Rukh Khan – Imtiaz Ali film in 2017

Shah Rukh Khan is one of the biggest stars in the industry today, but it’s been a struggle for the superstar to find favourable release periods – which would get him those big grossers that he desperately needs, after two box office disappointments in the form of ‘Dilwale’ and ‘FAN’.

In the last couple of years, it’s becomes a trend to announce the release dates of films well in advance. Salman Khan has dominated Eid and made the weekend his own, Aamir tries to release his films during Christmas, Ajay always has an eye on Diwali and Akshay is taking all the remaining ‘non-festive’ dates like Republic Day, Post IPL, Gandhi Jayanti and Independence Day.

With these actors announcing all their films more than a year in advance, even Shah Rukh Khan had to do something that he has said he doesn’t like – announce a film months before it even goes on floors. His banner, Red Chillies Entertainment, recently announced that his film with Aanand L Rai would release during the Christmas 2018 weekend. Shah Rukh announcing the release date of his film more than 2 years before its release, is something that has never happened before.

Which brings us to his next two films. While Raees and Kaabil will be fighting for box office supremacy during the Republic Day weekend – even though no film released in January has crossed the 130 crore mark – it’s the probable release date of ‘The Ring’ directed by Imtiaz Ali that is being discussed.

The options for the film, if it wants to find a favourable weekend, are limited in 2017. The film should be ready for release sometime in Mid-August next year, but almost all the successful dates have been taken.

There were reports that SRK-Imtiaz wanted the Independence Day weekend for their film, but Akshay was quick to grab it after the success of Rustom. The other date that they were looking at, was September 29, the Dusshera weekend which has plenty of holidays including Gandhi Jayanti on October 2nd. That date is gone too with Varun Dhawan and Sajid Nadiadwala announcing ‘Judwaa 2’.

So it’s either going to be about announcing ‘The Ring’ on a date that’s already occupied by another film or opting for a normal weekend. Shah Rukh could also ‘create’ a new weekend and make it his own by having a release during that period every year. For example, the Ganesha Chaturthi and Bakrid weekends are still vacant and the makers could hype it up as a favourable date for their film.

It’s become a game of perception these days. Eid and Diwali only have one big holiday, but with event films releasing during those weekends, it’s become a habit for the audience to watch films, thereby increasing the footfalls quite significantly.

Check out the table of weekends with full or partial holidays next year: