It was 10 am and the PVR gallery was full and brimming with excited people. The occasion was Eid and the release of Bodyguard, Salman Khan’s new flick with Kareena Kapoor. By Saturday, the news had started making rounds that the movie had broken all records and had registered a whopping INR 20 crores by then, biggest in the history of bollywood, much higher than Khan’s previous Dabangg and Amir’s Three Idiots. This release makes a hat-trick of Salman’s hits this season and him the most bankable star as of now in the Hindi film industry. So what exactly has happened to him? Has he finally found the right formula for the Indian audience which the industry has been searching for all these years? Or is it just a fad, with Salman being at the right place at the right time?
Let’s go back a little in the history of Salman and try to unearth some facts. The first son of Salim and Salma Khan, Salman was born on the 27th of December, 1965. He started his career with a small role in 1988 movie named Biwi Ho To Aisi. But success was received through the major hit Maine Pyaar Kiya in 1989 opposte Bhagyashri. This followed a roller coaster career spawning more than two decades which saw movies like Pathar Ke Phool, Andaz Apna Apna, Hum Apke hain Kaun, Karan Arjun, Judwa, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (which won him his first ever Filmfare award as the Best Supporting Actor), Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Tere Naam, Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, No Entry, Partner, etc. But the most important thing about all this was that the number of hits was very less compared to the number of movies Salman did, and also majority were multi-cast movies. But the year 2008 saw a change in fortunes with Wanted turning out to be a grand hit. Although this was followed by a lull for some time with the likes of Main Aurr Mrs. Khanna, London Dreams and Veer bombing at the box office. But since the release of Dabangg in 2010, Salman has given three consecutive hits with Ready and Bodygaurd adding to the list.
So what has happened post Dabangg? One thing which is very evident is the maturity that Salman has attained. He seems to be more responsible and knows what he’s speaking in public. Maybe the days of the brash and arrogant Salman are things of the past. Social scientist Shiv Vishwanathan believes the secret of Salman’s popularity lies in his ability to combine machismo and irreverence, innocence and mischievousness. “He combines opposites effortlessly,” he says. Adding on he says that Salman makes no claim of being an intellectual, which gains him immediate acceptance with the masses and adds to his charm.
Another angle which explains the actor’s success is the timing of the kind of movies he’s a part of. According to distributor Sanjay Mehta, in the past decade, the film industry was dominated by feel-good family dramas, love stories and naughty comedies. “Salman was the first to spot the shortage of action films and its possible demands. With Wanted and Dabangg, he reinvented himself as an all-action hero who also delivers one-liners and makes people laug,” he adds. The actor’s reinvention as an action star became possible after the regular men of muscle – Sunny Deol, Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgun and Akshay Kumar – recast themselves as funny-faced comics and uneasy romantics. The new Salman filled the gap. It might be contested that he was always at home in action flicks (Garv, 2003), but with wanted and Dabangg, he repositioned himself as industries top action hero.
Another fact which favoured the actor was the return of single-theatre kind of cinema which had lost its existence. In the wake of the new found intellectualism in the new breed of film-makers inspired by the likes of Scorsese, Tarantino, Nolan, etc. the line between art and commercial cinema had started to merge. This resulted in the south Indian and Bhojpuri cinema catching the attention of the not-so-urban India. The multiplexes were not able to serve the costs of the mega-budget romantic flicks and thus the need for returning back to the age old hero-heroine-villain-action-music formula arose. Coincidentally, Salman’s Wanted matched the audience expectations and voila – renaissance was declared!
But it remains to be seen how long Salman is able to fend off scares from the other biggies of the tinsel town. Action movies are back and with a bang. Ajay Devgun has already tasted success through Singham, Amir is working for Dhoom 3, Shah Rukh is almost ready with R.A.One while Hrithik is also working for Agneepath and Krissh 2. The audience has started perceiving Salman as someone who’d not disappoint them and who promises run-of-the-mill entertainer with complete masala. Television anchoring through the likes of Dus Ka Dum and Big Boss has only helped Salman strengthen his fan base. His improved mannerism has won him more friends and better stature. Appointment as the brand ambassador of IIFA is another justification of the same.
Hoping Salman will continue to entertain as he is doing right now and does not commit faults which hampered his career in the past. We’ll believe he’s committed to provide just that to his audience now, and as Salman proclaims, “Ek baar jo maine commitment kar di, to mai apni bhi nahi sunta,” we’ll take his words.
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