It’s the war of the mega Khans. First came Shah Rukh with Jab Tak Hai Jaan ; then Aamir with Talaash ; and next week, it will be Salman with Dabangg 2 . With these three Khans having reigned together comfortably for decades now, it’s not so much a battle for supremacy as a matter of ego, a fight for honour.
The question of who is the biggest Khan is a two-edged… no, a three-edged one, since each has shown a very different box-office pattern in the last five years. Salman has had the most hits (eight, if we can safely count Dabangg 2 ) but six flops. Shah Rukh has had six hits and no flops, though the over-budget Ra.One just about squeezed through. Aamir has had just three hits, along with the low-budget Dhobi Ghat , which didn’t lose money, but didn’t make too much either. (The trade verdict on Talaash is undecided as yet.)
The pattern reflects each Khan’s personality: Salman does movies happily, but not too choosily, for friends and family; some of his films are downright execrable. Shah Rukh is a little more selective but also likes to work within his comfort zone of friends like Karan Johar, Farhan Akhtar, the Chopras and Farah Khan. But Aamir, expectedly, goes his own way — he hasn’t worked with the same director for some 12 years now.
Put another way, you could say Aamir is far readier than the other two to take risks, to make that leap of faith with a new director. But wait — Salman does pretty much the same too, though you’d never guess it. Because, no matter who the director, almost all his films have the all-consuming Salman factor. It’s his personality, charisma, star presence, call it what you will, that rules. The movies are all about Salman Khan.
That’s why most of his films have a wearying sameness about them, much like Shah Rukh’s. Both have a signature style that they, and their directors, have overexploited for years now.
Remember how SRK surprised us when he ventured out of his comfort zone with Swades and Chak De ? That’s what Aamir does all the time; he always keeps us guessing. He has no signature style or gimmicks. And with him, it’s always about the film; he not only has a strong supporting cast, he is not afraid to let them shine.
Which is why such different expectations build up for his films. And we hope that they will succeed, because they hold out the promise of a new vision, of better cinema.
So, is it good news or bad for Talaash ? As always, depends on who you’re talking to. The bare facts are that after its second weekend, the movie’s domestic collections were said to be about Rs 79 crore, and its overseas figures approximately Rs 38 crore, adding up to a little short of Rs 120 crore.
The official budget for the movie was Rs 40 crore, but that is clearly without Aamir Khan’s remuneration, which is said to be in the range of 20s, or even going up to 30 crore, though most superstars take a percentage of the profits instead of acting fees these days. Since the movie is co-produced by Aamir’s own production house and it was sold to the Reliance Entertainment for Rs 90 crore, it’s hard to tell exactly how much Aamir himself and the film’s producers have taken home. But it’s safe to say they’ve made good money. So that’s a happy ending of sorts.
It’s a somewhat different story for Reliance Entertainment, which would have spent an additional Rs 10–15 crore on marketing and publicity. It’s early days and they should eventually recover costs, but their ROI on Rs 100 crore-plus may not be a very happy figure.
Compare this to, say, Oh My God , which has made over Rs 80 crore on a budget of Rs 20 crore and you can see why the trade is holding its judgment on Talaash . But why am I spending so much time on Talaash ’s collections?
Because it’s a test case of sorts. It’s a big-budget movie with three big stars that is mainstream and yet not. It’s pushed the boundaries and dared to take some considered risks. Though its supernatural theme and denouement are regressive, its narrative style is compellingly slick and edgy. The acting is top-rate and its emotions raw and genuine — not the superficial, designer-clad, mawkish variety that Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Ek Tha Tiger gave us. Indeed it was closer in spirit to a Gangs of Wasseypur than these two films.
Despite that ghastly, ghostly twist in its tail, Talaash is a far better film than most. At least it offers us the hope that mainstream Hindi cinema is ready, like its lead actor, to get out of a comfort zone. If it makes decent money, more big-time film-makers will consider taking artistic risks.
Will we see any such with Dabangg 2 ? Dabangg was a movie that dared to buck the trend; it went deeply desi , and small-town boy Abhinav Kashyap’s dehati conviction won the day. Will Dabangg 2 , directed by Arbaaz Khan, cruising on the success of the original, be driven by the same kind of conviction? The answer, of course, lies with Salman Khan.