A brief history of Salman Khan's Eid obsession
In what has become an annual event, Eid has brought with it a new Salman Khan film, directed by Remo D’Souza.
The superstar’s films released during the festive period have always shattered box office records and set a benchmark.
Ever since Wanted released on Eid in 2009, Salman Khan has been consistent in delivering Rs 100-crore successes come this joyous occasion.
Take hits like Bodyguard, Dabangg, Ek Tha Tiger, Kick, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Sultan and Tubelight that followed. Thus Salman Khan and Eid have become synonymous.
Now let’s examine the collection of Salman’s Eidi in the past:
Wanted
Release date: September 18, 2009
Rs 136 crore
Dabangg
Release date: September 10, 2010
Rs 145 crore
Bodyguard
Release date: August 31, 2011
Rs 142 crore
Ek Tha Tiger
Release date: August 15, 2012
Rs 198 crore
Kick
Release date: July 25, 2014
Rs 233 crore
Bajrangi Bhaijaan
Release date: July 17, 2015
Rs 970 crore
Sultan
Release date: July 6, 2016
Rs 589 crore
Tubelight
Release date: June 23, 2017
Rs 211 crore
It’s well known that prior to 2009, Salman Khan’s career took a hit and he did the worst among the three leading Khans of Bollywood. Salman Khan delivered flop after flop with Yuvraaj, God Tussi Great Ho, Hello and Heroes. With Wanted he not only changed the numbers game in Bollywood, but also his style, persona and presentation.
Like Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Sultan, one expects the 54-year-old star to repeat the success with Race 3.
Bhaijaan announced in advance that Bharat, his next big-budget film, will be released on Eid in 2019.
Even though his last release Tubelight could not drag the audience to the movie hall in droves, Salman said, “There is Eid, Diwali, Christmas, and all the films that release around these times are what we call festive films. These are films which people would come and enjoy and whistle and hoot to. This is the kind of genre one would release during the festive time.”
Salman believes in offering pure entertainment to fans. As the actor says: “On Eid, I don’t think you should make anyone cry.”
His Eid obsession follows the Bollywood tradition of releasing films during the festive season — Shah Rukh Khan has Diwali, Aamir Khan has Christmas, and Salman Khan has Eid. It rarely happens that another movie or star risks releasing movies during these occasions.
However, with Dabangg 2, Salman ventured into Christmas territory, usually reserved for Aamir Khan. This time around, Salman reserved Christmas 2018 for his Kick 2.
This Eid is going to be special for Shah Rukh Khan fans too — we may get a glimpse of King Khan with the new teaser of Aanand L Rai's Zero.
Now that is SRK and Salman in one frame. Some festive bonanza!
Now, for the Eidi!