MATINEE IDEALS
Deepika and Anushka are the reigning queens and though Akshay has toppled Big B and SRK, Salman still rules Bollywood. In sports, as expected, Virat remains larger than life
SALMAN KHAN 13%
ALITTLE ORE THAN 40 PER CENT (41 per cent to be precise) is tired of Karni Sena’s violence and wants to see Padmavati, now known as Padmaavat.
With Sanjay Leela Bhansali managing to get an uninterrupted two-week run in theatres, thanks to Akshay Kumar’s decision to delay the release of his reality-based feature, Padman, interested viewers will now have no alternative but to see Deepika Padukone’s Rani Padmini—with her midriff digitally covered to calm the offended Rajputs and royalty—make the ultimate sacrifice to preserve her kingdom’s honour. The near-silence of Padukone and Bhansali, both at the receiving end of death threats, during promotions speaks volumes about Bollywood’s helplessness in coping with ‘the fringe’. The inaction also stems from the disconcerting silence of the Centre, which has empowered the troublemakers to take the law into their own hands and defy the Supreme Court, which has stated that the film cannot be banned after getting a clearance from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
Padukone hasn’t had a Hindi release in two years, but given her valour in defending her film and its director, she still lingers strong in the imagination. Sharing the popularity honours with her is Anushka Sharma, who certainly benefitted from the #Virushka rage—marriage to leading sportsman Virat Kohli—in December 2017 even as her two films, Phillauri and Jab Harry Met Sejal, failed to leave a significant dent on the box office.
While in Hollywood it’s the actresses who have stolen the spotlight with the Time’s Up movement and their demand for pay parity and better working conditions, in Bollywood Bhai zinda hai and still the one who rules the hearts and box office charts. Salman Khan has only solidified his position in the latest poll. All it took is a December release for viewers to get their dose of Khan’s tried-and-tested action drama film, this time with a pinch of patriotism and appeal for peace, in Tiger Zinda Hai. Akshay Kumar, whose appeal will only multiply given his generosity, has overtaken Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan. It’s not surprising given his record as a prolific professional, his successes (Jolly LLB2, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha), and his newfound status as the actor with a social cause on his mind. The Khans should be worried.