Almost a month ago, Salman Khan made a public faux pas : on June 18, in front of several journalists, the superstar said, “When I used to walk out of that ring, it used to be actually like a raped woman walking out.” Attracting the ire of anyone with half a brain, Khan and his film Sultan were in the midst of a media scandal. Twitter went berserk: #boycottsultan was trending like there’s no tomorrow. But clearly, the Twitterverse is not where the Bhai’s fan following comes from; a week after the film’s release. According to trade insights firm, Ormax Media, it has raked in a whopping Rs. 410-420 crore (worldwide gross figures; the India figure is approximately Rs. 209 crore.). Clearly, the gaffe was inconsequential.
The biggest Khan Khan’s had loads of hits in the past. But his steady ascent to the position of reigning king of the box office began with 2009’s Wanted , which accumulated Rs. 136 crore. “ Wanted set Dabangg in motion,” says Amul Mohan, trade expert and Editor-in-Chief of Super Cinema . “It didn’t make too much money, but it gave him an idea.” Essentially, you take a film from the South and repackage it for the heartland audiences. “Personally, I think he discovered something there,” Mohan says.
After Dabangg released the following year, Khan continued to give the audience one annual blockbuster after another. But here’s when people will bring up Jai Ho and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo . While the former didn’t fare as well as a Salman Khan film should, it still managed to bring in Rs. 183 crore on a Rs. 65-crore budget. And as for the latter Sonam Kapoor-starrer, Komal Nahata, trade analyst and editor and publisher of Film Information and host of Etc Bollywood Business , says, “I wouldn’t call it a wrong choice [on Khan’s part] and it may not have appealed to the universal audience, but it did appeal to ladies and people over 40.” Prem Ratan… did manage to make Rs. 400 crore, mammoth earnings compared to other Bollywood films like Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (Rs. 369 crore), Tanu Weds Manu Returns (Rs. 243 crore), Rowdy Rathore (Rs. 206 crore) and Airlift (Rs. 231 core).
And this Cloud Nine that Khan has been riding for the last seven years is a result of several things going for the actor. “His selection of films is fantastic,” says Nahata. “It works both ways: he’s conscious of what he signs and the right scripts find him. Then he picks and chooses.” In addition, Khan filled a void in Hindi cinema, one that no one realised existed up to then. According to trade analyst Shailesh Kapoor, founder of Ormax Media, a firm specialising in trade insights, “Back in 2009, when the Dabangg ’s trailer was unleashed on the world, the film immediately spearheaded him into a category: action. “Before that [Bollywood] did family dramas and [Khan] built on the mass action hero status.” No other actor would be able to pull off the lines that Khan manages to slay audiences with. And off screen, the superstar is just as attractive.
In the news 24/7 While the entire film industry is trying their hardest to say and do the right thing, Khan is carefree, throwing caution to the wind every single time. “He’s very casual, he has no barriers,” says Kapoor. “He’s got this childlike yet mischievous persona.”
It’s a trait that no one else seems to have. And despite the several controversies surrounding him, whether it’s a Freudian slip here or a hit-and-run there, “His fans are not bothered about it,” says Nahata. “I don’t know whether it’s right to say, but [the controversies] may have worked to his advantage and everyone wants to mother him.” And Khan’s philanthropic work, whether an attempt at redemption or genuine generosity, also doesn’t seem to matter, as long as he’s doing it. “What the world knows is five per cent of what he does,” says Nahata. “He’s got the dua s of lakhs of people.”
Add to the mix the fact that the enfant terrible is almost always in the public eye, hosting Big Boss plus his other television appearances. The TV shows help maintain a connection with the audiences, despite him not having a film in the offing; if there should be one, then all the better.
In a country where more than half the population can be considered relatively young, Khan serves as the rebellious devil-may-care icon, someone who lets his fans believe they can unabashedly speak their mind and not apologise for it. As to whether this has negative repercussions, we already know the answer to that.
A long innings ahead After seven long years at the top, Khan doesn’t seem like he will slow down. “Equity gets built over decades,” says Kapoor. “One film can’t damage his equity. Right now, it doesn’t seem like it’s going anywhere.” With the slew of new talent entering the industry, no one seems to be able to match Khan’s star presence. “None of these new actors can compare to Salman,” says Mohan. “They’re so politically correct that nobody can be that guy. There will be a vacuum when he stops.”
So for now, it seems, the king stays the king.
The article has been edited to include the source of box office figures.
