It's a different kind of battle, and a separate set of Khans. Khan brothers Feroz and Akbar are pitched against each other in the two main releases Friday.

While Akbar Khan directs period film "Taj Mahal", elder brother Feroz Khan stars in the week's utterly disparate hip-and-young crime caper "Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena".

"That's why they aren't in competition," says the young "Ek Khiladi..." director Suparn Varma, whose film also stars Feroz's son Fardeen.

"Feroz Saab is like the head of the family. There's absolutely no sense of competition. In fact, everyone in the Khan-daan looks up to him."

Interestingly, father Feroz and son Fardeen were pitched against a Khan even the last time they came together in "Janasheen" -- that was Shah Rukh in "Kal Ho Na Ho".

This time, the competition is closer home. And the trade seems far more gung-ho about "Ek Khiladi Ek Hasina".

"Taj Mahal" possesses the old-world look. Period films, whether Chandraprakash Dwiwedi's cannily crafted "Pinjar" or Raj Kumar Santoshi's astutely visualized "The Legend Of Bhagat Singh", seldom do well.

The star cast in "Taj Mahal" also looks fairly unpromising. Zulfi Zayed, who plays Shah Jahan, has been around struggling for three years. Sonia Jehan, who plays his immortal lady love, is yet another Pakistani import.

We all know what happened to the last Pakistan import Meera in "Nazar" and "Kasak".

Pooja Batra married and retired two years ago. The rest of the cast in the film is also pretty unexciting.

Though director Akbar Khan has been pumping money into marketing his white elephant and Subhash Ghai's Mukta Arts is distributing this expensive and delayed film in various parts of the country, it's doubtful whether the film will even get a decent opening.

"Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena", on the other hand, has enough oomph and star power, including the Koena Mitra, to keep audiences gurgling in pleasure.

In this battle of the Khans, the period-classic just might have to concede defeat.