Trade Experts Feel That Despite Sikandar’s Debacle, Salman Khan’s SUPERSTARDOM Is Intact: “If Salman Can Open A S**t Film At Rs. 25-30 Crores, Imagine What He Can Do With A Good Film!” 25 : Bollywood News

We spoke to trade experts and they confirmed that Salman Khan’s stardom is intact, notwithstanding the box office outcome of his films, including the recently released Sikandar. Trade veteran Taran Adarsh said, “Salman has got tremendous star power. Regardless of the merits of the film, its three-day business can be attributed to only one man, that is, Salman Khan. His grip continues to be solid in the mass circuits.”

Trade experts feel that despite Sikandar's debacle, Salman Khan's SUPERSTARDOM is intact:

Trade experts feel that despite Sikandar’s debacle, Salman Khan’s SUPERSTARDOM is intact: “If Salman can open a s**t film at Rs. 25-30 crores, imagine what he can do with a good film!”

He also said that Salman’s choice of films is not evolving at the same pace as the changing tastes of the audiences. “Today, the audience is very smart and the word-of-mouth spreads very fast. Thanks to social media and YouTube, word of mouth is out in no time in the public domain,” he said.

Vishek Chauhan, owner of Roopbani Cinema in Purnia, Bihar, said, “I don’t feel that the fan base doesn’t exist anymore or that people don’t want to watch his films now. It’s just that he has been delivering poor films that have failed to excite the audience across the board. Even his fan base is disappointed. I know a number of them and they are not at all happy with the way Sikandar shaped up. People were expecting a lot since director A R Murugadoss and producer Sajid Nadiadwala were involved with the project. And then to come up with such a bad film has been disheartening.”

An exhibitor from Uttar Pradesh said on condition of anonymity, “Sikandar will do business in my cinema than Chhaava. By Saturday, Sikandar will overtake Vicky’s film. What Chhaava collected in 7 weeks, Sikandar will collect more in 7 days! Imagine if a disaster can collect so much, how much would his blockbuster film earn in mass pockets?”

He added, “100% his fan base is still intact. Some of them are still dancing to his songs, that too in a film like Sikandar.”

Vishek Chauhan revealed, “I watched Sikandar in Malaysia. Even there, the fans were hugely disappointed. But even then, there were 100 people in the show on the day of release, which is not bad. Hence, I don’t feel that the era of Salman Khan is over. In fact, it is far from over. He is still a very potent brand. It’s just that he needs to reinvent himself now. This macho, alpha image that he has been carrying on since Wanted and Dabangg needs a drastic change. Now, Salman Khan is trying to be Salman Khan in his films. He’s not pushing the boundaries. He has become stagnant.”

Trade experts feel that despite Sikandar's debacle, Salman Khan's SUPERSTARDOM is intact:

Girish Johar, producer and film business analyst, believes that his stardom is intact and remarked, “There are actors whose films don’t even open at Rs. 1 or 2 crores but his film is opening at Rs. 25 crores, that too despite a below par content. It shows that people want to watch a Salman Khan film. There’s no doubt about it. Despite a negative response, his films end up doing Rs. 100 crores. This is no mean achievement in today’s times. Hence, I doubt that his stardom is fading.”

He further stated, “Even today, if a film like Tiger comes and its trailer drops, people would be excited to see it. Or something like Sultan. But if a below-par trailer is released for his next film, then it might be detrimental. Nevertheless, questioning his stardom does not arise. Questioning his content selection ability is valid. He needs to pull up his socks while shortlisting the scripts for sure.”

Vishek Chauhan, in agreement, exulted, “If there was something wrong with his stardom, then this crappy film would not have opened with such numbers. If Salman can open a s**t film at Rs. 25-30 crores, imagine what he can do with a good film!”

He added, “People had written off Shah Rukh Khan as well. But SRK bounced back and how. I am sure even Salman Khan will also follow suit.”

Distributor and exhibitor Raj Bansal, however, said, “That era has gotten over. It is also evident with the fact that when the news came about the announcement of his next film Ganga Ram, it didn’t excite the fans at all.”

Also Read: What went wrong with Sikandar? Trade experts share their views: “The organ donation track didn’t work. It seemed makers wanted to blend Bajrangi Bhaijaan with action. They also added a dash of Jai Ho…”