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FIRST DAY-FIRST SHOW
Saptarshi Dutta: (A postgraduate student at Jadavpur University) The first Salman Khan film I watched first day-first show was Garv, which was way back in 2004 and I saw the kind of craziness that goes hand-in-hand with a Salman Khan film. There were huge cutouts of Salman decorated with garlands and people were pouring milk over them. I was fascinated. From then on I realised he was the only actor in Bollywood, post-2000, who commands such a presence.
Salman Khan films come out once a year. First is the year-long wait and then you just know what kind of craziness is going to happen. I couldn’t stop myself from going for Ek Tha Tiger. I had to go first day- first show. I went to get tickets on Sunday but it was all sold out. So I had to get tickets in black at Navina.
Tirthankar Biswas: (A third-year student of Jadavpur University) We had plans of going to Navina because Salman Khan movies are meant to be experienced in single-screen cinemas; you can almost feel the movie with your body! I couldn’t get tickets so I finally had to buy a Rs 80 ticket for Rs 200 at New Empire. There were people outside screaming ‘Salmanbhai zindabad’. The craziness on the first day is absolutely different and no one complains if you shout your lungs out when he first appears on screen and give ceetees after every scene!
Abhishek Das: (A first-year computer science student of Institute of Engineering and Management) I think I am the only one here who hasn’t watched the film in a single screen. But Salman Khan, I think, is the only actor who has the power to turn the multiplex ambience into a single-screen one. He will have people in multiplexes taking off their shirt and dancing! And if you are a Salman Khan fan you have to watch his movies on the first day. I have watched most of his films on the first day.
Shayak Roy: (A third year student of St. Xavier’s College and a trainee tea-taster) Salman Khan is larger than life. He is a brand by himself. The way he talks, the way he walks, the way he dances… everything is larger than life. No one else can pull off what he can. The pull of Ek Tha Tiger was the word Tiger. I mean first there is Salman Khan and then he is a Tiger! Anyone who hasn’t gone for a first day-first show of a Salman movie will never understand its pull. It is like a festival. Sometimes I feel a Salman Khan release is a bigger festival than even Durga Puja! I forget that I am a sober individual from a decent family when I go to watch a Salman film.
But at Ashoka in Behala this time I saw something that shocked even my not-so-sober self. Taking off shirts is common, even I have done it, but here people just got up on the podium in front of the screen and started dancing to the song Banjaara! Yes, I went and joined them. It was an amazing experience and I want to do it again.
In Ek Tha Tiger Salman does everything. He almost flies, he swings from building to building, he stops a cable car, he uses his brains… he has done almost everything that Batman, Superman and Spider-Man do. Hollywood should come and see our superhero — Sal-Man!
Ritwik Sen: (A student of food technology at Techno India) This is the first Salman film I went to watch in a cinema hall and I wish I hadn’t had the momentary lapse of reason. I went to Navina on Thursday morning and I, unlike the others here, got tickets for Rs 60, but even that, I thought, was a waste. I could hear people screaming before I entered the hall. I wondered what the ruckus was, till I saw Shah Rukh Khan on the screen in a film promo. I guess people were just warming up. Then the opening credits started and when the movie title Ek Tha Tiger showed on screen, it felt like India had won the World Cup. It was crazy. I was sitting and, of course, I couldn’t see anything because people in front of me were standing on their seats and cheering. I was there in the hall for 45 minutes and that was it — I could not take it any more!
THE SALMAN EFFECT
Saptarshi: You cannot expect a Shah Rukh Khan to do things Salman Khan does, like taking off his shirt or his shirt getting ripped off automatically for that matter! Salman has established a brand for himself. What he does in his films is almost what he does in real life. The things he does can only be associated with him. He is a huge entertainer and entertainment is the major portion of our Hindi film industry. When films released in the ’70s huge cut-outs, garlands, dancing in the hall were common. But once romantic films became the norm post-90s there was a lull. Salman is the only actor who is daring enough to continue with the kind of films that still fetch that kind of a ’70s reaction. This is one of the reason why I respect him as an actor and as an entertainer.
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| (From left) Shayak Roy, Ritwik Sen, Abhishek Das, Tirthankar Biswas and Saptarshi Dutta. Picture by Rashbehari Das |
It is not fair to say he can’t act. He can act.... You know you are going for a Salman film to get entertained. If you wanted to see proper acting skills you go for a Naseeruddin Shah film. For Salman, if you go knowing what to expect you will never be disappointed.
Tirthankar: Everything that Salman does has a different degree of macho-ness, which appeals to me. Salman knows his audience and you can’t compare a Salman Khan film to an intellectual film. And I refuse to believe that Salman Khan cannot act. Those who say that should see films like Hum Aapke Hain Koun...!, Tere Naam and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. There are some signature Salman things, like his style. It is not the branded style statement of the other stars. He makes his own style, like tucking the Aviator into the back of his shirt or the wristlets that he wears. That is what sets him apart. A Shah Rukh Khan would perhaps show off a Rolex worth Rs 4 lakh, which probably no one in the audience can afford.
Abhishek: Salman is a superstar. Who else in the industry can pull off a Chulbul Pandey or a Tiger? When you hear the title Ek Tha Tiger you cannot imagine a Shah Rukh Khan or a Hrithik Roshan or an Anil Kapoor in that genre. If the movie with this title cast Shah Rukh, people would say ‘ki ja ta’. But Salman gets the audience because of the ‘ja ta-ness’.... The minute I saw the trailer for the movie I knew it was going to be as big as Dabangg. Which other actor can rake in Rs 33 crore on the first day?! He rules Bollywood… he is the king. You cannot replace Salman in any of his movies. No one can deliver the ceetee-maar performances that he gives. He makes keora cool!
Tirthankar: He is someone who doesn’t need brands to make him big. He is the biggest brand himself.
Abhishek: Which other actor can pull off a neon green shirt with a pink pant in such style? Anyone else would look like a joker!
Shayak: I am a film student and we watch a lot of films with inner meaning and all that jazz but according to me the basic reason for making or watching a movie is entertainment. At work I’m getting paid to use my brain. If I have to tax my brain to watch a movie I might as well be paid to watch it instead of the other way round. When I am watching a Salman movie I know I will get my money’s worth. And I don’t even mind paying Rs 100 extra.... Apart from a couple of cheesy films like Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai and Tumko Na Bhool Paayenge he has been consistent in the kind of roles he plays.
He pulls off a lot of weird stuff on screen and he pulls it off with confidence. You can replace a Shah Rukh in Don with Salman, you can replace Abhishek Bachchan with Salman in Dhoom but can you imagine a Shah Rukh or an Aamir or a Hrithik being Chulbul Pandey? Like Rajinikanth is worshipped in the south, Salman Khan is worshipped all over India. And not just India, my friend who stays in London said that the film released in 83 halls in London and 81 of them were houseful! That is how big he is.
Ritwik: Well I cannot deny that he is the king of Bollywood. He is a king, period. He doesn’t care who he kills, which animal he slaughters, he doesn’t believe hitting people is considered domestic violence, and it doesn’t matter if he is breaking the law when he drinks and drives. But yes you cannot deny that a lot of people expect a lot of things from him. They expect him to wear his sunglasses on the back of his collar instead of on his eyes, they expect him to shake his belt to dance instead of his legs… and to give the guy his due, he lives up to them. But all this does not make him a good actor, and if you talk about being an entertainer I think Johnny Lever is a better entertainer than Salman Khan!
This was followed by five minutes of chaos as the Salman fans rose to defend their Bhai against Ritwik!
Shayak: How does killing people or the black buck have anything to do with what kind of entertainment he provides?
Ritwik: Well if you are worshipping him as some kind of god then you have to look at all aspects of the person… you can’t ignore it.
Abhishek: But doesn’t this show even more how big a star he is that no matter what happens in his personal life it does not affect his fandom or the success of his film?
Shayak: If Salman Khan is so bad, if Johnny Lever is a better entertainer then why do people still accept Salman, why is he still so big? If he was so bad we wouldn’t worship him.
Saptarshi: Well whatever Salman has done, he has always apologised saying that he never intended to do it and it was a mistake. I think that kind of honesty is also one of the reasons why so many people like him. And people can discern good and bad; if Salman Khan does something really bad it is his fans who will be angry with him the most. And Salman knows that. He has become extremely careful now.
FAVE FILM
Saptarshi: My favourite Salman Khan film is a very old one called Veergati. It released sometime around 1995. He gave a very good performance that wasn’t his usual cool, careless act. He was very reserved and sober. And since then I have been a Salman fan. That was my first Salman film. I was three or four years old then.
Tirthankar: I have two. First is Maine Pyar Kiya — no one could do romance better than what he did in that film. And the other is Dabangg. The dialogues, the soundtrack, the cast, not just Salman but the others as well, everything was superhit. And Salman bare-bodied is something everyone in India is ooh-la-la about.
Abhishek: My favourite Salman film is Hum Aapke Hain Koun...! I have watched it 50 times. It was a different side of Salman. It was Salman before he became wanted for Wanted. The film had everything; lovely songs, a great story… it was a complete family entertainment. The scene where he asks Madhuri ‘Hum aapke hain kaun’ is simply brilliant.
Shayak: Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya would be my favourite. He was chyangra in the film, he was dancing with his shirt off, there was action and great comic situations involving Arbaaz Khan. It rocked. Another film I like but nobody else likes is Veer.
Ritwik: The only Salman film that I have managed to watch is Mujhse Shaadi Karogi and it wasn’t because of Salman but because of the cricket match at the end.
Wanted
Saptarshi: I think with the promos of Wanted his fans realised that
Bhaijan as we call him is probably back on track. We won’t have to have to watch him do something like what he did in Saawariya or Yuvvraj and he is getting back to being the Salman we know — cool, careless. Even though it was a weak film it re-started brand Salman.
Tirthankar: A great mix with comedy, action and a pretty good soundtrack but not as good as Dabangg.
Abhishek: Wanted is a complete family entertainer. You cannot expect anyone else to pull it off the way Salman did. The plot was good. You don’t find out till the end that Salman is the cop. And the Salman we see now, the goofing around, the action all started once again with Wanted.
Shayak: Nope, it wasn’t so special for me. I did not go to watch it in the hall.
Tirthankar: You guys forget that Wanted was the film where all the slow-mo fight sequences started when it came to the Salman.
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Dabangg
Saptarshi: It was a film that even those who are very critical of Salman Khan actually liked. It was extremely entertaining. I always remember Dabangg for one particular scene. There was this gunda whose phone’s ringtone was a song from Wanted and whenever that used to play Salman started dancing, even while he was fighting. When I was watching the first day-first show at Navina I was thinking which other actor good, bad, big, small, would be able to parody himself like that; he was so cool about it. And of course the climax where his shirt comes off on its own!
Abhishek: Enough has been said about Dabangg. A film doesn’t get more entertaining than this. Who else can say a dialogue like ‘Mera naam Chulbul Pandey... humara naam humari personality ko shobha deta hai’ with such confidence and elan. It is perhaps the only film that you might be mobbed for not liking!
Shayak: It is the best film he has done. I mean here is Shah Rukh Khan who is called Rahul or Raj in more than half his films and here is this man who dares to call himself Chulbul Pandey and make him a superhit. And how he makes us laugh, even when he is not speaking he cracks you up in the film.
Ready
Saptarshi: To be very honest Ready was a very weak film. But Salman again pulled off a feat. Anees Bazmee, the director, was going through a very bad phase. And Salman managed to rake in Rs 130 crore. He saved Bazmee!
Tirthankar: I like Ready. If you asked me to rate it I would give it a seven on 10. Well, you go to watch his film with certain expectations and it is not the same if you went for, say, The Dark Knight Rises. You know you want to see him bare-bodied, there should be kick-ass action, some good songs and item numbers that they can play in discos and awesome one-liners. Ready had them all.
Shayak: It might sound weird but I didn’t like it the first time and loved it the second time. I think the chemistry between Salman and Paresh Rawal made the film.
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BodyGuard
Saptarshi: Yet another trademark Salman film and it was better than Ready, maybe because of the love angle.
Tirthankar: Bodyguard wasn’t that great. Kareena just didn’t work for me. Katrina probably would have changed the fate of the film.
Abhishek: Kareena killed it. But he still managed to pull off the romantic angle well.
Shayak: Well Kareena is one of my favourite heroines and I think she is superhot but she just did not work with Salman. They looked like brother and sister throughout the film.
Ek Tha Tiger
Saptarshi: Kabir Khan is a good director and it is not the usual chyangra Salman Khan fare. It is a well-made film with a good plot.
Tirthankar: This film worked even better because of the Salman-Katrina jodi. I think it was an excellent jodi. If you rated the films from Wanted to Ek Tha Tiger then I would put Dabangg first and then Ek Tha Tiger.
Shayak: I did not like the ending, it was too abrupt. But the plot was good and I liked the twists and turns. I think one more action sequence would have been nice.
Abhishek: There was more than Salman to the film. The setting, the cinematography were brilliant. But I didn’t appreciate the fact that they put the song Mashallah with the end credits. Unfair! I wish there was at least 20 minutes more to the movie. [This was greeted with a loud groan and an expression of disbelief from Ritwik]
The Salman- Katrina jodi
Saptarshi: They worked. But it was more because of the drama about their break-up and the hype. And I was very surprised to see that the romance here actually worked. In Bodyguard, the romantic angle fell flat. And Katrina was convincing in the action sequences. But frankly a Salman fan going for an Id release hardly cares who stars opposite him.
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Tirthankar: Wasn’t Katrina too pretty and too cute to be an ISI agent? I think she was. But thank god the couple worked. And she did contribute quite a bit to the film.
Abhishek: You know if Asin was replaced by Katrina in Ready, it would have work much better. Katrina is perhaps one of the few heroines who can match up to or at least come close to Salman in terms of star power.
Shayak: It really doesn’t matter even if you cast a man opposite Salman in a romantic role! His movies are all about him. I’m sorry but it really doesn’t matter how hot or how cute the woman is.
Ritwik: Well, I for one am glad that Katrina was there in the film. At least I could watch a good-looking girl. And it made more sense to think that the men were whistling for Katrina than for Salman. She was probably the only reason why I agreed to go for Ek Tha Tiger.
