Salman Khan and Eid blockbusters: Is Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan the festive bonanza audience wants?

Trade expert and film producer Girish Johar agrees that the buzz of Salman Khan’s Eid releases today is “comparatively little less” than it used to be earlier.

Explaining why he thinks so, he says, “I agree, the buzz around Salman’s Eid releases on comparatively little less, but please understand that the box-office dynamics has changed post-pandemic. Having said that Salman Khan is releasing a full blown commercial film (Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan) this Friday. Traditionally Eid releases had become a part of festivities for families. Families would flock to cinema halls to catch their Bhai’s film after Ramzan was over and to start the festival with him. This feeling is still there, it is a signature Salman Khan offering when he releases his films on Eid.”

Mumbai’s veteran exhibitor Manoj Desai is elated with the Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan buzz. He shares with us, “I’ll be running eight shows daily, both Maratha Mandir and Gaiety Galaxy has a capacity of 1000 people each, so at any given point of time over the weekend, I’ll have 2,000 people watching the film and other 2,000 people entering the next show.”

 

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When asked if Salman’s Eid releases has had a negative impact after his last couple of films didn’t get a critical acclaim, he says, “public hai, yeh sab jaanti hai. Only the audience will decide if the film is good or not. But there is a palpable excitement among the audiences as per the advance bookings. Both my theatres — Maratha Mandir and Gaiety Galaxy — are in areas where many my Muslim brothers and sisters reside, they’ll be celebrating Eid and coming down to watch the movie. I am hoping that it does as well as Pathaan, the audience supported Shah Rukh Khan and now I am sure they’ll shower their love on Salman as well. If KKBKKJ does as well as Pathaan did then it will surely revive Bollywood, there’ll be no looking back.”

Analyst Komal Nahta feels the film will increase its earnings on Saturday, “For all those thinking, KKBKKJ will open to bumper houses, please remember, it’s a pre-Eid release. Hence the first day’s collections will be good, not outstanding. They will shoot up on Saturday if Eid falls on that day.”

Bihar-based film exhibitor Vishek Chauhan calls Salman’s Eid release a joyous occasion, while Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan is releasing this Eid, he would have preferred a better star vehicle like Tiger 3.

 

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Salman’s first Eid release was Prabhudeva’s Wanted (2009), then came Abhinav Kashyap’s Dabbang in 2010, followed by Bodyguard in 2011, the super duper hit Ali Abbas Zaffar’s spy thriller Ek Tha Tiger in 2012 and then Kick in 2014. Bajrangi Bhaaijaan in 2015 and Sultan in 2016 also emerged as hits. Salman’s first Eid release to not perform was his experimental film, directed by Kabir Khan, Tubelight. Then came Race 3 in 2018 which created a meme fest on the internet, and his last Eid release was Bharat in 2019, which earned Rs 325+ crores at the worldwide box-office but is not considered amongst Salman’s most successful films.

Quoting Dev Anand, Vishek says, “Stardom is about repetition, and Salman is a superstar when it comes to serving the audience what they expect over and over again. The consumption pattern, post Covid-19 has changed, most of your stars can’t even guarantee a bare minimum opening. About 90% of stars who Bollywood thought were bankable have given their producers a heart attack. Which is why most of the producers have shied away from making films for now. Today Bollywood is in such a situation where they don’t know what to do, what films to make, with whom to make and why… everybody is in a wait and watch mode.”

Viskeh also says Salman needs a big hit like SRK’s Pathaan. “Whatever buzz is there for KKBKKJ is only because of Salman, else nobody would have even noticed this film. Salman is the selling point of this film, he is the reason why people are looking forward to the film. In my opinion, to get this kind of traction post-pandemic and to get people talking and actually booking tickets for this film is a big achievement. I think he has already won it because post Covid-19 this kind of films are not being noticed by the audience. Milap Zaveri faced a heartburn with Satyamev Jayate 2, Rohit Shetty’s Cirkus didn’t work either. But if KKBKKJ opens with Rs 20 crores on day one, it is a huge deal and that’s only because of Salman. So I don’t believe that the buzz around Salman’s Eid releases is dwindling, in fact if the film is being talked about at all, it is because of Salman’s star power.”

While trade is banking on Salman to deliver a full entertainer, ad guru Prahlad Kakkar believes that Salman knows the pulse of his audience and even if his film fails, he knows how to return with a better one. Kakkar terms Salman as the “lovable bad boy, a rebel without a cause”.

When asked if his current flops and age has affected Salman’s brand value, Kakkar says, “Of course it does. If one gives back to back flops it would affect them, but the case with Salman is different. After every flop, he has given the audience something meaty to comeback to the theatres.” Is age against the actor this time? “He doesn’t look his age at all. He works out and is fit, so there is no perceptible difference.”