Salman Khan has relished his current status as the Blockbuster Khan. Last year, a few things changed however. Shah Rukh Khan came up trumps with Chennai Express and broke the long held box-office record of 3 Idiots. But his reign was short. Aamir Khan vroomed in on his bike-boat in Dhoom 3 and wrestled back the crown. Currently all eyes are back on Salman as his Jai Ho, which was released yesterday. The Hindi remake of the Telugu film Stalin, comes with blockbuster expectations of conquering the records set by both his Khan colleagues.
But it hasn’t been a smooth beginning for Jai Ho. With the film’s promotion getting mired in political controversy, a new kind of film publicity has come to the fore. Much has been written and debated about Salman Khan’s appearance at the Saifai Mahotsav in Uttar Pradesh, organised by the Samajwadi Party. The actor earned a lot of flak for neglecting the riot victims at Muzaffarnagar, which he tried to clear up in his media interviews. Then came the photo-op of Salman flying kites with Narendra Modi and the blockbuster statement that the Gujarat CM “should not apologise for the 2002 riots, as he had been given a clean bill of health by the courts.”
Though some of his political statements have been bizarre, for the large part Salman Khan has taken the criticism on the chin. He says he’s an “entertainer” and that he went to Gujarat to promote his film. In terms of film promotion, Jai Ho has been a game-changer. After all let’s not forget this is the election year where the commoner is clearly enjoying centre stage. Currently India is tuned in to the biggest reality show — Who Will Be The Next Prime Minister? The drama is being staged on the roads, in the Lok Sabha, the Rail Bhawan and the Ramlila Maidan grounds in Delhi. Everyone is glued to the action. So is Bollywood.