Dunki vs Salaar Christmas 2023 clash is a foolish challenge from Prabhas to Shah Rukh Khan

Baahubali actor Prabhas has taken up what is currently the biggest challenge in Indian cinema, after confirming the release clash of his movie Salaar with Shah Rukh Khan’s upcoming movie Dunki. 

What

Indian cinema has had some strong business in 2023, with clear signs that it is not ending its drive anytime soon.

• Prabhas, renowned for his role in and as Baahubali, is one of those who are aiming to utilise this window. However, the route that he has chosen is probably the toughest of them all. 
• He has chosen to lock horns with Shah Rukh Khan this Christmas, as the release date of his movie Salaar is the same as that of Dunki.

One will agree in a split-second that this resurgence of Indian cinema is being led by SRK with his back-to-back Rs 1,000 crore-earners Pathaan and Jawan. 

Prabhas is trying to follow in the footsteps of SRK, with a comeback after a series of flops and a 3-year hiatus, but he has certainly picked a wrong time.

• Prabhas's next release Salaar is set for a Christmas clash with one of the most anticipated movies of this year, SRK’s Dunki, directed by 3 Idiots director Rajkumar Hirani. 

The window is certainly an ideal one for Prabhas if he were to look for a comeback...

...but with a not-so-ideal plan

Ever since the reports of a probable clash between Dunki and Salaar began surfacing, people on social media started terming the decision a wrong one by Prabhas and his production team at Hombale Films. 

Prabhas has certainly not seen the bright side of the box office since Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, with all his following movies getting labelled as major flops: 

• Saaho 
• Radhe Shyam 
• And obviously, the disaster called Adipurush 

Prabhas’s career, by the looks of it, is longing for a decent money-churner and it is safe to say that he will be banking on Salaar to do the trick.

However, clashing with Dunki is hardly a smart move.

Ideally, no one in the industry at the moment would want to share a release date with Shah Rukh Khan.

SRK has been pivotal in bringing business back to Indian theatres with Pathaan and Jawan, with both the movies earning more than Rs 1,000 crore worldwide. The expectations from Dunki are pretty much the same. 

Moreover, this will be the first time SRK will be collaborating with 3 Idiots, PK and Munna Bhai MBBS director Rajkumar Hirani. 

What could have been avoided

Both Hombale Films and Prabhas could have avoided this risky clash by moving the release date at a fair distance from Dunki, saving itself from taking a business hit of any sort.

However, Salaar is certainly banking on its luck and seeing this window out without making any alterations to the release date.

No matter how much of a bold move it seems, Salaar is certainly taking up a gigantic and unnecessary challenge for itself by competing with Dunki on Christmas 2023.