Firoz Nadiadwala is gearing up to cut into the box-office share of his friend-turned-foe Akshay Kumar's films, Gabbar and Baby. Earlier, he had decided to lock horns with Rajkumar Hirani's P.K. on December 19, but the latest buzz is that the producer has now also registered January 23 as a release date. Akshay's two films are also scheduled for a Republic Day week opening.

The duo fell out when Akshay refused to star in Hera Pheri 3 over financial issues. He kept Firoz waiting for a long time until he eventually settled for a new cast.

Feroz had then gone on record to say, “I first started discussing the third instalment of Hera Pheri with Akshay in 2006. I never wanted to make it without him. It's sad that we couldn't come to an agreement. Akshay is like a brother to me. But I can't afford him.“

While Firoz still maintains that Welcome Back will release in December, the film's director Anees Bazmee who flew to Dubai for the last schedule on Tuesday, says he'd prefer a January release. “I don't want to wrap up the film in a hurry. Welcome did well, I want Welcome Back to do better.“

A source added that a lot of post-production work is yet to be done. He says, “Anees is trying to convince Firoz to push the film forward by a week. If that happens he would be pitted opposite Akshay rather than Aamir.“