War of the Titans: Big B, Rajini to clash on April 11

Amitabh Bachchan's 'Bhootnath Returns' and Rajinikanth's 'Kochadaiiyaan' are slated to release on the same day at the box office It looks like history is all set to repeat itself. In 2007, the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer 'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom' and Rajinikanth's 'Sivaji:The Boss' had clashed on the same day (June 15).

This time around, Big B and the South sensation will again clash at the box office on April 11. It has emerged that Bachchan's 'Bhootnath Returns' and Rajini's 'Kochadaiiyaan' will hit the marquee on the same date.

Interestingly, both the icons have worked together in films such as 'Andha Kanoon' (1983), 'Geraftaar' (1985), 'Dosti Dushmani' (1986) and 'Hum' (1991). While Rajnikant did a special appearance in 'RA.One' (2011), Big B did a voiceover for the film.

Says an industry watcher, "With the release dates of their films now confirmed, it will be interesting to see the legends take on each other at the box office. The two stars have fans across the globe and their films' collections will be followed closely."
'Bhootnath Returns' is a sequel to Big B's 2008 horror comedy 'Bhootnath', while 'Kochadaiiyaan' is a period drama that has used state-of-the-art technology with Rajinikanth reprising his larger-than-life persona. In fact, the latter, which also stars Deepika Padukone, will be released in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, Bhojpuri, Bengali and Punjabi across 6,000 screens, in addition to an international version in English.

Adds the industry watcher, "It is well-known that when Rajinikanth's film releases, it is festival time for his fans. The shows begin as early as 5 am especially in South India and often people burst crackers, beat drums and throw flowers at the screen before the show. The movie's reel is also worshipped at temples. So this clash is surely an interesting development."

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