Special Feature: What makes Salman Khan the ‘King of Blockbusters’?
Very few superstars in Bollywood have managed to generate the kind of hysteria that Salman Khan does. Salman Khan: The name today is enough to get his die-hard fans (who are omnipresent) in theatres.
Salman Khan’s golden run at the Box-Office started with Dabangg (2010). 8 out of his 10 releases since then have proved to be Blockbusters. The current dominance of Salman Khan cannot be described in words as this is possibly the best run witnessed by any star from his generation.
Every low is followed by a high and vice versa. Likewise, Khan too had his own share of failure. Back in early 2000’s, Salman was hitting the headline for all wrong reasons, be it the court cases or ugly fall out with Aishwarya Rai. More than the controversies, what diminished his standing in the industry was the poor selection of scripts. The superstar has confessed at several occasions that he used to sign films on emotional ground to bail out his friends from trouble.
From 2000 to 2009, Khan has been a part of 29 films out of which only 11 proved to get some sort of recognition. The media had written him off by the 2008 as films like Yuvvraaj, God Tussi Great Ho, Marigold, Salaam-E-Ishq to name a few met with a disastrous fate. To add on to his issues, Khan had an ugly public fall-out with Shah Rukh Khan in 2008, which resulted in two different camps within the industry.
The superstar was just a step away from success as he always commanded a loyal fan following and it was merely a matter of right script. That happened with Wanted! After delivering 4 consecutive disasters, Khan finally delivered a super hit in the form of Wanted. The film released in Eid 2009 with zero expectations and managed to surprise the audiences. It was a huge success in the single screens but the multiplex audiences didn’t give the Salman Khan starrer any sort of chance. However Khan could not carry forward the success as his next three films i.e. Main Aur Mrs Khanna, London Dreams and Veer failed to grab the eyeballs.
The distributors lost their confidence on Khan and the music was faced by Dabangg. Arbaaz Khan and Salim Khan were demanding a certain amount from the distributors however most of them were reluctant to shell out the money on the film.
Khan’s father, Salim Khan took the decision to retain the distribution rights of the film in few major territories as the film didn’t get the sort of response expected from the trade. And what next? Dabangg managed to take the biggest opening of all time as it surpassed the record set by 3 Idiots by a 40 percent margin.
The movie proved to be a huge blockbuster and was the beginning of Salman Khan’s dominance. To witness Salman Mania today, one must experience the fanfare at a single screen theatre. The cinema hall erupts when the superstar makes an appearance on the screen. Right from dialogues to dance, everything done by Khan is celebrated by the audiences.
If Salman manages to keep his stardom intact for 3 more years, he in all possibilities will challenge Rajesh Khanna’s long standing record of delivering 15 consecutive hits. Khan’s tally as of today stands at 9 consecutive successful films and his upcoming films, Tubelight and Tiger Zinda Hai are carrying tremendous buzz and are expected to add on to his tally of hits.
Here’s a look at Salman Khan post Dabangg:
- Dabangg: Rs 141 crore: Blockbuster
- Ready: Rs 121 crore: Blockbuster
- Bodyguard: Rs 145 crore: Blockbuster
- Ek Tha Tiger: Rs 199 crore: Blockbuster
- Dabangg 2: Rs 154 crore: Blockbuster
- Jai Ho: Rs 113 crore: Semi Hit
- Kick: Rs 232 crore: Blockbuster
- Bajrangi Bhaijaan: Rs 321 crore: Blockbuster
- Prem Ratan Dhan Payo: Rs 213 crore: Super Hit
- Sultan: Rs 301 crore: Blockbuster
Apart from the above mentioned films, Khan has 4 more blockbusters in the form of Maine Pyaar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hai Kaun, Karan Arjun and Partner.
Salman has highest blockbusters in history of Bollywood and doesn’t that make him the king of blockbusters?
First published: 20 March 2017, 15:17 IST
