Legal tangles seems to be coming in the way of brand Salman Khan. The Bollywood actor, who has been convicted in the black buck poaching case with a five year imprisonment, may find his brand charisma eroding.
Khan was pronounced guilty in a 1998 black-buck poaching case. To begin with several brands associated with Khan saw their share price fall after the verdict was announced early today. The court too called Khan “habitual offender”.
Khan endorses close to 10 brands including Relaxo footwear, Being Human, Emami, Dixcy Scott innerwear among others.
Salman was facing charges under Section 51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, which prescribes six-year jail for the guilty.
Industry watchers note that Khan’s Eid release Race 3 may be marred due to the verdict. His other projects include Bharat and Loveratri, alter this year.
Bollywood rallied in Khan’s support. Noted director-producer Subhash Ghai said: “I am extremely shocked to hear @BeingSalmanKhan being convicted by session court but also having full trust in indian judiciary which has many other doors to appeal for final justice whatsoever. Since he is most loved person by industry and people for his human reasons too.”
Former actor and Parlimentarian Jaya Bhachchan reacted in Twitter, “feel bad. He should be given relief. He has done a lot of humanitarian work.”
Earlier this year, Forbes in its report pointed that Salman Khan’s brands value has been coming down as brand endorsers were prefering younger stars to woo millennials. Forbes said that the 52-year old actor’s earnings have dipped from a high of ₹270.33 crore in 2016 to ₹232.83 crore in 2017.
Brands experts point that khan’s endorsement fee for a day is estimated to be close to ₹4-5 crore.