But what I said above does not hold good all the time. Take for example the recently released Shah Rukh Khan movie Zero. It was supposed to be Shah Rukh Khan’s re-launch movie after a series of debacles he had in recent years.
The last big hit he had was Chennai Expressway back in 2013. To date, only Chennai Express remains his sole 200 Cr plus movie. His other competitors like Aamir and Salman have five 300 Cr movies between them which Shah Rukh’s 300 Cr count is Zero. Even Ranbir Kapoor has joined the 300 Cr club with Sanju while SRK was still at Zero.
So, SRK needed a big hit to bring back his sagging image.
2018: Sanju (Ranbir Kapoor) 341 Cr
2017: Tiger Zinda Hai (Salman Khan) 340 Cr
2016: Dangal (Aamir Khan) 380 Cr
2016: Sultan (Salman Khan) 300 Cr
2015: Bajrangi Bhaijaan (Salman Khan) 320 Cr
2014: PK (Aamir Khan) 338 Cr
If you see the above data three out of the six 300 Cr plus movies were Christmas releases. The 2014 Christmas release PK was the first ever 300 Cr plus movie collecting 338 Cr. Then in 2016, Aamir came with Dangal again which even to date holds the Highest grosser for a Hindi film outside Bahubali collecting 380 Cr. Salman’s Tiger Zinda hai which was released last year on Christmas has collected 340 Cr.
In fact, this Christmas release tradition was started by Aamir Khan way back in 2008 with Ghajini. It went on to become India’s first-ever 100 Cr movie. Next year in 2009, Aamir again came back with another Christmas release 3 idiots which went onto becoming India’s first 200 Cr movie. PK released for 2014 Christmas was India’s first 300 Cr movie. Last 10 years almost all Christmas releases were big hits, except in 2010 when Teesmar Khan of Akshay Kumar failed to hit the bullseye.
From 2014 every release during Christmas made 300 plus Crore.
In 2015 also there was a clash with Dilwale and Bajirao Mastani releasing on the same day. Dilwale made 140 Cr and Bajirao Mastani made 188 Cr and the total together is 328 Cr. So, Christmas with a lot of holidays ending only with New Year presents a perfect time for releasing a movie.
Now, if we come back to the status of SRK, he is hungry for hits and he is behind the other Khans and even actors like Ranveer Singh and Ranbir Kapoor. Ranbir Kapoor’s highest grosser is Sanju that made 341 Cr while Ranveer has Padmavat which collected 295 Cr. He just missed the 300 Cr mark. SRK has Chennai express at 217 Cr.
So, SRK roped in Anand L Rai an extremely talented director with huge successes like Tanu Weds Manu, Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, Raanjhna under his belt. SRK produced the film himself under the Red Chillies banner and roped in Sridevi, Juhi, Salman and a host of other Superstars to appear in cameo roles. He also booked a Christmas slot and avoided a clash by forcing his friend Karan Johar to postpone the release of Simmba by a week. With all this, Zero was to make 300 Cr and SRK would have even imagined that this Christmas will have India’s first 400 Cr movie.
But it is not to be. Zero fell flat on its face. It just managed 55 Cr in the first weekend which is the 2nd lowest after Tees mar khan. The way it is going Zero cannot cross 150 Cr. But the landing costs of the movie were a whopping 225 Cr and that means SRK will not only lose his face but also will lose a lot of money. Then the question is, why did Zero Fail?
Many say it’s the overconfidence and induced feel-good factor and too many things happening too soon. Shah Rukh has to remember that after he crossed 50, he should choose his roles a bit more carefully and make movies that a realistic and appeal to his persona. He also needs to understand his limitations on his appearance and image. There was hard work in making Zero, but a bit of a realistic approach would have done wonders. SRK is called the Badshah of Bollywood but he just has six 100 Cr movies and one 200 Cr movie.
SRK’s 100 and 200 cr movies
1. Chennai Express (2013) 217 Cr
2. Happy New Year (2014) 178 Cr
3. Don 2 (2011) 143 Cr
4. Dilwale (2015) 139 Cr
5. Raees (2017) 128 Cr
6. RaOne (2011) 113 Cr
7. Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012) 101 Cr
Now all eyes will be on Saare Jahan Se Accha, which will be the next release of Shah Rukh Khan.
This is the biopic of Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian to land on the moon. The shooting will start in February and maybe they might be looking at 2019 Christmas for its release. There again, he has to clash with Karan Johar who is releasing his Brahmastra. If he wants to avoid the clash then he needs to take it to Republic Day of 2020. Till then, his fate hangs in balance and let’s see who all will join the 300 Cr club before that and how many more 300 Cr movies and even a 400 Cr movie might come. For now, Shah Rukh looks like a tired star seeing his sunset years! Sad, but inevitable for any star…
