One of the triggers behind Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan’s half-a-decade rift is said to Salman’s anger that SRK had not reciprocated his special appearance in Om Shanti Om for the film Main Aur Mrs Khanna. At the fight, which had happened at a party thrown by Salman Khan to celebrate his then girlfriend Katrina Kaif’s birthday, Shah Rukh had apparently needled him as a loser because his movies were not doing well.
The world has since come full circle with Shah Rukh’s movies bombing with regularity while Salman having the Midas touch with only Tubelight, his latest, being an exception. What is even more curious is that with Tubelight, Shah Rukh finally did a cameo in a Salman movie and seemed to have brought his bad luck over. But, be that as it may, Salman is now repaying that favour by making a special appearance in Shah Rukh’s forthcoming movie, When Harry met Sejal, directed by Imtiaz Ali.
Apparently Salman dedicated an entire day for the shoot. And when it comes to a superstar of his standing, time is in fact more gold than money. We don’t know what Shah Rukh received in return for his Tubelight cameo, but he did spring a surprise. When Salman came to the set, there was a brand new latest model high end Mercedes waiting as a gift by Shah Rukh. That might still not equal in value to what Salman’s time is worth, but this bonhomie between him and Shah Rukh seems to getting stronger by the day.
And one also sees increasingly less of Salman’s friendship with Aamir Khan. The two used to be very thick once but apparently Salman got rankled when Aamir praised his acting in Bajrangi Bhaijaan while insinuating that all his earlier movies were poor. We don’t know how much that is true but one thing about Salman is that he is only willing to make amends with superstars. Poor Vivek Oberoi, who had a falling out with him about a decade and a half ago, has found himself unforgiven and unfriended forever. But those like Shah Rukh, Salman is willing to patch up with after a few years.
Safe zone
There are three superstar Khans in the industry and each have a favourite time of release during the year to coincide with holidays. Salman Khan’s slot is Eid, Aamir Khan’s is Christmas and Shah Rukh Khan’s is the festival of Diwali. These are dates when their movies have for many years enjoyed a monopoly.
Others would be reluctant to release then because they wouldn’t get enough theatres, and then the belief that movie goers would choose a Khan’s movie over theirs anyways.
The first such monopoly to fall was Diwali for Shah Rukh, with others encroaching on that date, until he does not own it anymore. Aamir remains firmly on top of the Christmas-New Year release, especially with the outstanding success of Dangal. No one would want to take a chance going against a movie of his. And then there is the Eid period, which was thought to be unassailable until Tubelight bombed this year.
But one would still be a brave filmmaker to go against Salman in any future Eids. Which is why it was strange to read reports that Rajkumar Hirani’s Sanjay Dutt biopic was being scheduled for Eid next year. Admittedly, Hirani is the bestselling filmmaker of Bollywood but would he really want a competition with Salman? Turns out that he didn’t. Soon enough there came a clarification that the biopic would release in March next year as was planned earlier.
Future plans
There is a still a week left for the release of Jagga Jasoos but if rumors are to be believed then a sequel is already in the works. That somewhat reeks of overconfidence since the movie is banking on two stars – Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif – whose ability to deliver sure-fire hits have lately been considerably diminished.
On the other hand, while both have not had any great hits recently, together they have always done well. And if Jagga Jasoos does indeed become a blockbuster then there will be an odd dilemma facing the two. Jagga Jasoos was a movie they signed up before their break up. Having separated, they would want to be as far away from each other as possible. But if their combination works, then a good career move would be to continue acting together.
This is the middle ground that Deepika Padukone and Ranbir also arrived at after their break up. Meanwhile, Ranbir, who is the producer of the movie, might only have his acting boots on for the sequel because he has realised that producing is not his cup of tea. In an interview to a tabloid, he said he was too lazy for the job and is much happier as an actor.
No hiding
Ileana D’Cruz is one of those unusual actresses in Bollywood who does not hide her relationship. She has been together with her photographer boyfriend for some time now and has not really kept it hidden as most actresses do in the belief that their standing with the audience goes down if it becomes known that they are already hooked up.
Ileana revealed in an interview to a newspaper that even she had to get over her fears to not keep such hypocrisy going. She had been warned by many that making her relationship public would hurt her career. In fact, when she had to go for an awards function for the movie Barfi, she had even considered having her boyfriend make a separate entry. But then decided that it was just a silly thing to do because she derived strength from his presence.
And now, her Instagram photos are full of them together. She also spoke about how her inability to network in typical Bollywood style by pleasing the stars has cost her movies. But she was alright with it even if losing out on a movie hurt her bad.
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Shah Rukh Khan’s cameo in Salman Khan’s Tubelight.
