Why SRK and Salman are getting tired of playing same roles
The battle for theatres come Eid 2016 has begun in earnest. Ritesh Sadhwani, the producer of Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Raees, has said he is open to discussing the dates of release for his film since there are chances that the Yash Raj Films (YRF)-produced and Salman Khan-starrer Sultan will also release around that time.
Eid has been a traditionally high season for films and a number of big films have been released during the festival weekend over the years. Salman Khan in particular has been a beneficiary of this trend with his top grossers Dabaang and Ek Tha Tiger having released during Eid.
No wonder top-notch filmmakers are interested in reserving the weekend for their films. But with the stakes down to Salman and SRK, there is little clarity on who will get the slot. Their rivalry on and off the screen is the stuff of Bollywood legend but has since dissipated. The wedding of Salman’s sister Arpita and his ordeals over the hit-and-run case brought the two Khans closer. Yet, their Bollywood battles have strange parallels with their lives - an outsider who became the Bollywood badshah versus the consummate insider who redefined Bollywood box office success.
Sultan has Salman playing a wrestler. The film is in the tradition of Hollywood films like The Wrestler or the more recent Southpaw where sports act as a backdrop for personal struggles. Deepika Padukone is slated to play the female lead, so one assumes that the film will not be another vehicle for Salman breaking things and people. A number of A-list actors such as Sonakshi Sinha and Kareena Kapoor have played second fiddle to Salman in his serial Rs 100-crore grossers. Deepika, given the string of successes she has had on her own accord, would not have agreed to play just eye candy. Besides, YRF head Aditya Chopra was bowled over by her excellent turn in Piku and would not have offered her an insignificant role.
Raees, on the other hand, sees SRK return to the bad boy avatar after Don. The promos are out and SRK seems to have clinched the role of a Gujarati drugload down pat. The film is another instance of him trying to expand his repertoire after a string of brainless hits like Chennai Express. With the upcoming Dilwale with Kajol and Raees, we can hope to see a return of SRK to such films as Swades.
This week was especially good for him after the Maharashtra Cricket Board upturned the five-year-old ban on him visiting Wankhede stadium. The ban was put in place after he had a run-in with a guard during the 2012 Indian Premier League (IPL) season. His team, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), meanwhile, has escaped the sordidness that has enveloped the league in recent times.
Salman’s life has been a study in contrasts. In many ways, he is Bollywood’s golden boy, churning out hit after superhit. His reputation as a do-gooder both for members of the film fraternity and through his NGO, Being Human, is common knowledge. Yet, his personal life is not nearly in a similar good shape. Romantically, he remains unattached after failing to commit to any of his paramours. Moreover, the status of his hit-and-run case continues to hang. The widespread support he received from Bollywood after he got bail in that case was criticised by the media. Besides, he does not seem to have learnt from his controversies and routinely courts fresh ones. His tweet defending Yakub Memon backfired and he was forced to apologise.
Like SRK, Salman too has sent out feelers to the fraternity about his willingness to do meatier roles. Perhaps he rues the image of him as a brainless muscle god, an image that has gained currency owing to his choice of roles. In fact, Salman’s image as a himbo is underserved. Critics, even when they disliked the film, were unanimous in their praise for his part in Bajrangi Bhajaan. This was a role for which he returned to the mould of a Khamoshi or a Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam - films in which he displayed a rarely-shown spontaneity.
He can be smart when he chooses to. Appearing on Comedy Nights with Kapil for the promotion of Bajrangi Bhaijaan, he launched into an educated spiel about how dialogue-writing has changed in Hindi films down the ages. “When my father (Salim Khan) wrote "Kitne Aadmi The" it was just another question. But Gabbar sa'ab turned it into something else,” he said in reference to the iconic dialogue from Sholay. “Now, however, there is no scope for that dialogue since it would sound silly and a put-on,” he added.
Eid 2016 looks to become the next iteration in the battle of the biggies. May the best man win!