Bollywood supremacy of the Khan triumvirate
The Khan triumvirate has pretty much dictated all things Bollywood for over two decades now. Between them, Salman, Aamir and Shah Rukh Khan scaled unprecedented popularity, frequently rewriting the box-office record books with their blockbusters. SALMAN: BANKING ON SEQUEL FORMULA
So, Salman, while trying to move away from his alpha male image, released Tubelight on Eid 2017, which cast him as an imperfect, vulnerable protagonist. The film struggled after its opening weekend and barely managed a lifetime’s domestic collection of around Rs 121.25 crore, which classifies it as an average grosser.
Salman’s return to familiar image and spectacular action a few months later the same year with Tiger Zinda Hai worked, but the superstar struggled trying out the same formula in his Eid 2018 action thriller, Race 3. The film managed only Rs 169 crore in the domestic market, and was classified and average grosser.
This year on Eid, Salman was in no mood to take chances. Bharat, his Eid 2019 release, was formulaic social drama with scope of action, thrills, good music and romance, and the film cast him opposite his normally lucky mascot Katrina Kaif. Eid, however, was far from
a blockbuster event. Bharat fared only marginally better than Salman’s releases of past two Eids, scoring Rs 209.36 crore and being declared a Plus Earner.
Given the situation, Salman is now trying to stick to what worked once. He is banking on sequels, with Dabangg 3 and Kick 2 lined up. Inshallah, the romantic musical with Sanjay Leela Bhansali he had lined up for Eid 2020, has been pushed for now. Instead, he sent out a cryptic tweet on Monday afternoon underlining his plans to release “Kick 2” on that day. Clearly, the actor hopes the new “Kick” sequel will repeat the success of the first “Kick” film, which scored blockbuster rereturns on Eid 2014.
Considering Salman Khan has traditionally thrived being himself on the screen, the sequel formula would perhaps seem the safest route for him. “Tiger Zinda Hai”, after all, has been his biggest hit in recent years. It is a formula that will let him survive as a big star, but will it let him survive changing trends and younger competition? Time will tell.
SRK: HUNTING FOR A PLOT
For Salman’s immediate rival Shah Rukh Khan, things have only been uphill over the past few years. SRK’S last superhit was Happy New Year on Diwali 2014. If Salman appropriated Eid, SRK has had a long history with big wins on Diwali every year. Baazigar, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Dil Toh Pagal Hai, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Mohabbatein and Veer-zaara have been among his biggest Diwali blockbusters.
When Ra.one did disappointing business on Diwali 2011, SRK was perhaps at a loss. This was film where he had drastically moved away from his loverboy image. An outlandish sci-fi plot for Bollywood fans was perhaps the reason, but the belowexpectation show of Ra.one served a warning to SRK: His position as King Khan was no longer to be taken for granted.
The nine years since have only seen Shah Rukh slip. Except for his Republic Day 2017 release, Raees, which did Plus business, no other SRK film after Happy New Year has scored at the boxoffice.
In recent times, Shah Rukh’s plight, in every way, has been the same as Salman’s. He has mostly failed to leave an impact when he tried moving out of his comfort zone of playing the romantic hero in films such as Don 2, Fan, Dilwale and Zero. He has also not impressed lately when he tried to reinvent the romantic hero to suit his advancing age, in Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Jab Harry Met Sejal.
Shah Rukh Khan’s problem, probably, is the fact that his mighty brand power by far outstrips his position as an undeniably gifted actor. With the brand power eroding with age, and with SRK not quite successful in reinventing his mojo, the outcome is a very exhausted superstar.
SRK knows, which is why he has stopped signing films for now. Till he gets his plot right.
AAMIR: WILL HE BE LAST KHAN STANDING? Far from being a serious contender for the numero uno spot over Shah Rukh or Salman, Aamir Khan has actually been the most consistent in starring in Bollywood’s biggest blockbuster of all time over the past decade. First, it was 3 Idiots (in 2009, which scaled that high. The record of 3 Idiots was broken by his own PK (Rs 339.5 crore) in 2014. Two years later, Dangal busted the record PK. Dangal (Rs 387.39 crore) continues to be Bollywood’s biggest hit as of date. Interestingly, all of Aamir’s biggest hits—also includes Dhoom 3 has released in Christmas.
Aamir’s problem now probably is that younger actors as Ayushmann Khurrana, Vicky Kaushal and Rajkummar Rao have picked up the trick. Although they are far from guaranteeing the sort of returns an Aamir Khan film normally gives, Aamir knows the film industry can be a fickle place, and fans can be unpredictable. The failure of his absolutely disappointing Thugs Of Hindostan last Diwali underlines the fact.
The disaster that Thugs Of Hindostan was probably shouldn’t be held against Aamir alone. The film was a bad product, it would have crashed anyway. The actor’s detractors, however, have been quick to point out his 2013 release, Dhoom 3, would fall in the same category of brainlessness, and yet went onto become a superhit. If Dhoom 3 worked then, and Thugs Of Hindiostan failed last year, his detractors hold it as a sign that Aamir Khan is slowing down.
Aamir, it would seem, is best suited to survive age – not just for creative instincts, but for his commercial sense. He has selected the right script to return over two years after Thugs Of Hindostan, when his next release, Lal Singh Chadha opens on Christmas 2020. The film is a Bollywood remake of Forrest Gump and directed by Advait Chauhan, who directed Aamir’s superhit production Secret Superstar earlier. As a product in the making, Lal Singh Chadha seems like just the right one fans of mild, middle-of-theroad entertainers as 3 Idiots, PK and Dangal are awaiting after all this time.
Aamir’s challenge right now is to live up to his image as an actor. But while Salman and Shah Rukh look increasingly headed towards a zone of unpredictability as younger actors close in, Aamir is mostly likely to adapt and survive. He is a bit like Amitabh Bachchan that way. IANS