Rajinikant beats SRK in box office race

Shah Rukh Khan, it seems, has finally been beaten. And it's southern superstar Rajninikanth who has managed to the unthinkable.

Rajini and Shah Rukh have been working on Kuselan and Billo Barber respectively. Both these films are adaptations of a Malayalam film, Katha Parayumpol starring Mammootty. And Shah Rukh wanted to release his film before Rajini.

In fact, he was so keen that he even cancelled his annual family vacation and straightaway started shooting Billo Barber.

But Rajini's film is ready and all set to release on August 15 while Shah Rukh's film will hit the screens only during Diwali.

P Vasu has directed Kuselan while Priyadarshan has directed Billo Barber. The Malayalam original tells the story of a friendship between a superstar, who goes to a village for a shoot and a local barber. While Rajinikanth and Shah Rukh Khan play the stars, Pasupathy and Irrfan Khan play the barbers.

Adding to Shah Rukh Khan's woes is Akshay Kumar whose film Chandni Chowk to China (Warner Bros' first Hindi film) also releases around the same time.