Shah Rukh Khan’s Zero or Ranveer Singh’s Simmba: Who will own box office at Christmas, New Year?

Shah Rukh Khan’s Zero is set to release on December 21 ahead of Christmas and will soon be followed by Ranveer Singh’s Simmba on December 28. Can they both cohabit at the box office?

Diwali season is over with Aamir Khan’s Thugs of Hindostan proving to be a dampener at the box office. Now the trade analysts are setting their sights on the Christmas and the New Year season that is set to witness two back-to-back releases: Shah Rukh Khan’s Zero and Ranveer Singh’s Simmba.

The release of Shah Rukh Khan’s Zero will be followed by Ranveer Singh’s Simmba at the box office.

Shah Rukh’s Zero has been touted as the much awaited Christmas release of the year and will hit the theatres on December 21. The trailer of the film released amid much fanfare and got mixed responses from the critics. It was launched on his birthday at a special event amid a mela like set-up complete with food and games stalls. Starring Katrina Kaif in the role of a superstar and Anushka Sharma as a scientist suffering from cerebral palsy, the film has SRK playing a dwarf for the first time. The film is Aanand L Rai’s dream project and has been made on a huge budget and involves excessive use of VFX.

While Zero is a solo release ahead of Christmas, it will soon be followed by Ranveer’s Simmba - an action thriller directed by Rohit Shetty on December 28. The film stars Sara Ali Khan as the female lead and will be the second consecutive release of her career. Sara is the daughter of Saif Ali Khan and is currently looking forward to the release of her debut film Kedarnath.

Directed by Abhishek Kapoor, the film stars Sushant Singh Rajput as the male lead and has been delayed by around six months. While the trailer is yet to arrive, the makers of the film had released a behind-the-scenes video featuring Rohit enacting some hardcore action sequences. A few leaked pictures of a party song from the film had also surfaced on the internet.

Talking about the same, film exhibitor Akshaye Rathi told Hindustan Times, “Since they are coming a week apart, it cannot be called a direct clash. Talking about the film, programming of cinema purely works on the law of demand and supply. Both are expected to be extremely well. So the fate of Zero in the first week will determine how many screens it will get in the second week. The merit and the potential of box office collections of a film determines the number of screens it will get. If that is not the case, the screens will be given away to Simmba I suppose.”

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh, however, is certain that the two films can co-exist at the box office. He tweeted, “#Christmas is a lucrative period for films worldwide... The prolonged holiday period - #Christmas and #NewYear - will begin from 21 Dec [Fri] evening onwards, right till 2 Jan [Wed]… In my opinion, two films can easily coexist, if strong in merits... #Zero #Simmba.”

He added in another tweet, “A bit too early to put a number on the screen count of #Zero and #Simmba, as of today... One thing is for sure, both should get ample showcasing at prominent multiplex chains... Single screens will be divided, but a clearer picture will emerge closer to the release.”

Will Simmba be able to cut off Bauaa’s run at the box office this Christmas or can they both co-exist?

Follow @htshowbiz for more