₹500-cr riding on Bollywood’s ‘bhai’
MUMBAI: Almost ₹500 crore is riding on Salman Khan, who was convicted of killing two blackbucks, a rare and protected species of antelope, and sentenced to five years in prison by a Jodhpur court on Thursday.
To be sure, there’s a chance that Khan will receive a reprieve. Khan’s counsel Mahesh Bora said the sessions court will hear the actor’s appeal on Friday to suspend the sentence. He said Khan will get bail if the sentence is indeed suspended.
Khan’s Hum Saath-saath Hain co-stars and fellow accused Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre Behl and Neelam Kothari were acquitted in the same case, which dates back 20 years, when the actors were shooting the movie on location in Rajasthan.
“It’s too early to comment, but, of course, if Salman indeed ends up going to jail, it will be a huge shock for everyone… his films are always among the biggest money-spinners, so the overall business will surely be badly affected,” trade analyst Taran Adarsh said before the court pronounced the punishment.
The shooting for his Eid release, Race 3, is almost done and films such as Bharat and Dabangg 3 are set to go on the floors soon. Kick 2, the second instalment of the 2014 blockbuster, has been announced. His TV game show, 10 Ka Dum, is scheduled to go on air in June.
His production company has also begun work on Loveratri, the debut film of his brother-in-law, Aayush Sharma. Sharma is married to Salman’s youngest sibling, Arpita Khan. “As per my information, work on Race 3 is still going on, with some patchwork, post-production and dubbing still left,” another trade expert, Amod Mehra, said.
Large sums of money must have been spent on pre-production work for Bharat and Dabangg 3. “Plus, his TV show is all set to go on air. Put together, all of it means a huge loss,” Mehra said. “Salman is one of the strongest pillars” of the Hindi film industry, director Anees Bazmee, who has given hits such as No Entry (2005) and Ready (2011) with the actor, said. “It goes without saying that the entire industry feels the effects of such a shock. After all, he is an iconic star. Also, Salman is a family friend and is such a nice person that everyone is concerned about his well-being,” Bazmee said.
But it is not all gloom and doom. “Thanks to all the publicity Race 3 is getting due to the case, the biggest beneficiary is going to be that film because all the sympathy will now rest with Salman, and that emotion works very strongly with Indian audiences,” said Mehra. “So, if the film’s opening figure was going to be ₹35 crore, it may now be ₹40 crore,” he said. Another blockbuster Eid for the actor?