What do you make of the clash?

It hasn't happened yet. I wouldn't say I am in denial but I think the clash could still be averted. In all fairness, Rakeshji did announce the release date first. And SRK is a man of principle, a man of his word, he is a Pathan. I can't fathom SRK stepping on someone's toes. I don't know if they will come on the same day as us or not but I definitely think they shouldn't. If someone else had announced a film before him, there is no way in hell that Rakeshji would bring his film out on the same date. That is the respect we need to accord one another.

You sound anguished...

Hrithik is 10 years younger than Shah Rukh. So I don't see this as competition. Shah Rukh's competition are Salman (Khan) and Aamir (Khan). If both these films come out on the Republic Day weekend of 2017, the business of both films will suffer. Both won't do more than a Rs 150-crore in a week because we have a Rs 300-crore box office window at best. When Salman releases a film solo, he gets Rs 300 crore, same goes for Aamir. Shah Rukh should be looking at getting Rs 300 crore for his film and I'm sure he is looking at that possibility. I don't understand why he would restrict the business of his own film. Forget about this clash being detrimental to us, it is also going to be bad for them.