Akshay Kumar's 'Khiladi 786' pitted against Shah Rukh Khan-Yash Chopra's next epic romance

After releasing RA.One on Diwali this year, Shah Rukh Khan will be joining hands with Yash Chopra for a festive release next year too. However, it won't be a solo run at the box office. His film is all set to clash with Akshay Kumar's Khiladi 786 Made in Punjab, his co-production with Himesh Reshammiya.

Interestingly, when the veteran filmmaker's next directorial venture, featuring SRK and Katrina Kaif, was announced, the production house also stated that they would be coming out with it during Diwali next year. However, it seems Akki and Himesh weren't aware of it.

A source says, "There's no confirmation on Yashji's film. Sensing the date open, when Akki and Himesh finalised their film, they decided to release it during Diwali as well."

The film will be directed by debutant Ashish Mohan. However, even if the SRK-starrer releases during Diwali, Akki and Himesh aren't perturbed. Interestingly, it was also during the same festival that the last Chopra directorial released.

It was pitted against films like Abbas-Mustan's Aitraaz, Ram Gopal Varma's Naach and the digital coloured version of K Asif's Mughal-E-Azam.

"The script is the strong foundation of Khiladi 786, with a good dose of romance. So they're not worried about any other film releasing on the same day, " maintained our informer, adding that both Akshay and Himesh have had decent success during Diwali. "Akshay's Blue registered a good opening in 2009 while Himesh's Damadamm made profits this Diwali, " he said.

While none of the actor-producers were available to comment, a source associated with Khiladi 786 tells us that the decision was taken jointly by Akshay, Himesh and Eros International, which is a co-producer. "These days, it's very important to have a good release date. Khiladi 786 is a complete family entertainer.

So what better time to release it than Diwali? Eid, 2012 has been booked by Salman Khan for his Ek Tha Tiger. Besides, next Christmas, he's also coming with Dabangg 2. Diwali was the best time for us, " explains the source.

The Yash Raj spokesperson says, "As we know Diwali is an exciting time for movie releases. The two films are completely different genres and without canibalising each other, give the audience a wonderful choice. We do not look at this as a clash. The audience will choose to see both the films over the usually extended Diwali weekend."