Daily Times

Salman Khan has maintained his stardom for nearly three decades. Since his debut with Biwi Ho To Aisi (1988), he has delivered joy to his audience through his flicks. With the exception of a couple, his Eid releases were sure-shots, resulting in regular success for ‘Bhaijaan.’ However, it has taken the actor four years to return to the big screen in a full-fledged part this time.

During his absence, the dynamics of the box office have changed drastically. The audience is now unforgiving of poor content, irrespective of the headline act. Film trade experts believe that just like other biggies, who were once hit-churners irrespective of the quality of their projects, Salman, too, will have to pass the litmus test of content to ensure a good run for Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan in theaters.

Film producer and trade expert, Girish Johar says, “Post-pandemic, the box office dynamics have changed. Audiences’ preferences have changed and films that are not liked are not even taking a single breath at the box office – they are dying on the day of (the) release itself. I am sure Salman Khan will also have to pass this test. He would not be insulant against the changed dynamic of the box office. The content has to do the talking. He is not above content.”

Kisi Ka Bhai is a Hindi film. Kisi Ki Jaan is loosely based on Ajith’s 2014 film Veeram, which was then adapted in Telugu as Katamarayudu in 2017. Radhe, Salman’s most recent film, was an adaptation of the South Korean blockbuster The Outlaws. Bharat, his 2019 film, was based on the South Korean drama Ode to My Father. Tubelight, a 2017 film that failed to excite audiences, was also a remake of the 2015 American film Little Boy.

Film trade expert Taran Adarsh believes it is ‘wrong’ to do remakes now when films of all languages are easily available for the audience. “That novelty factor goes away when you remake a film. People have had enough of remakes. They don’t want to watch remakes. It’s a wrong thing to do remakes now since they are available on all platforms be it YouTube, OTT, and also in local languages and with subtitles. So, why remake, why can’t we make original films?” he questioned. He added with the stature that Salman enjoys among movie buffs, he should focus more on working on an original story like Tiger Zinda Hai. The film was Salman’s last true blue blockbuster.

Taran said, “He (Salman) should do a film like Tiger (Zinda Hai) which is an original film. Salman is a huge star who enjoys a massive following. He is the darling of the masses. He needs to capitalise on his star power.”

With the film intending to be a pan-India release — Telugu star Venkatesh is part pf the cast, its song Yentamma has Ram Charan making an appearance — will it be able to pull an audience in southern states? The buzz around the film seems to be quite low down south where many people have already watched Veeram. Also, film trade analyst Ramesh Bala believes Salman doesn’t have a good hold in the southern region of the country. The actor comes only third after Shah Rukh and Aamir.

Bala told us, “Normally, for Bollywood, the market in Tamil Nadu goes like first Shah Rukh, Aamir Khan, and then only Salman. So, I don’t think the film will have a great impact at the box office this week. This week is just a lead-up to Ponniyin Selvan 2 release. Even there are no big releases this week in Tamil. That might help Salman’s film, but there’s is IPL also. So, the whole week would be a bit dull for the box office. I expect Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan to collect around Rs 1 crore from Chennai and the rest of Tamil Nadu. So far, the buzz and the booking have been only moderate for the film. Also, it is a remake of a Tamil film. People already know the story, so there’s nothing new to it.”

The advance ticket sales of Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan opened on April 18 and the national cinema chains sold about 15000 tickets on the day. Though the number is not good given it’s Salman’s mass entertainer drama, Taran Adarsh opined that for a film like this “advance bookings can never be an indicator.” Film distributor Akshaye Rathi explained further, “Because this is Salman Khan’s mass entertainer, it will attract an audience on single screens in Tier 2 and 3 cities. The fate of this film is predominantly driven by current bookings more than advances and that is how the mass audience comes in. That’s the audience you see queuing up in front of the box office rather than BookMyShow or Paytm.”

Akshaye Rathi and Taran Adarsh are expecting the film to earn somewhere around Rs 15 crore on Friday. Since Eid is being celebrated on Saturday, Rathi believes, “If reports turn out to be nice and it carries momentum from the opening day, on Eid, it should be able to do a Rs 25 cr plus business.”

This number could have been way higher had the buzz around the movie been good. The awareness and excitement level among the audience is not at par with a Salman Khan film. “Buzz should have been extremely high because Salman returns to the big screen on Eid after four years. One of the reasons for lower buzz could be that a film works as a package and this package doesn’t interest a lot of people. By package I mean, the trailer, the cast, the songs, and the director. The name of the director also makes a lot of difference and in this case, the director doesn’t enjoy that kind of popularity,” Taran Adarsh opined. Echoing similar thoughts, Girish Johar added, “If the songs and trailer would have been good, the scenario would have been different.”

When Salman Khan last appeared on the silver screen in Pathaan cameo, he, alongside Shah Rukh Khan, in the post-credit scene said, “Hume he karna padega, bachcho pe nahi chhod sakte (We will only have to do it, can’t leave it on the youngsters)” hinting at the ability of Khans to pull the audience. But, this time around, the going seems difficult for ‘Dabangg Khan’ given the lull around Kisi Ka Kisi Ki Jaan.