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Upala KBR (DNA; October 6, 2016)

It makes sound business sense to hitch your trailer to a big film — it’s a practice most producers follow these days — but Shah Rukh Khan won’t do that with Raees. He doesn’t need to. The actor-producer will instead present his film (sans his Pakistani leading lady Mahira Khan, in case you were wondering) on his birthday (November 2) at the event he hosts every year on that date at his bungalow in Bandra.

Instead, the trailer of Hrithik Roshan’s Kaabil, which clashes with Raees on January 26, 2017, will open with Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Shivaay. A source explains the strategy. “SRK and co-producer Ritesh Sidhwani do not want any comparisons made with any other film. So, they will release their trailer a few days after Kaabil. But the bigger worry for SRK isn’t Kaabil as much as it is the trailer of Aamir Khan’s Dangal (also out on Diwali).”

And here’s why: the buzz around the film is huge and Aamir always has some great marketing strategy in place. Adds our source, “Not just that, Aamir will also release the trailer a few days before Diwali, so there is double the buzz. Shah Rukh wants the hype around those two trailers to end before he releases his film’s trailer the week after. He will screen the trailer for the media in the day, release it on social media after that and at night, his close friends will get to watch it at his birthday bash at his residence, Mannat.”

Moreover, the ban on Pakistani artistes won’t affect Raees as films that are completed will escape the restriction of the diktat. Concludes our source, “While the producers of Raees are worried about their release on January 26, their publicity and promotions are on track.”