Why Salman Khan Owned 2011

- January 11, 2012 | 11:11 AM IST

With just two releases in 2011, it seemed as if Salman Khan owned the year. His Ready had bad pre-release reports, consisting mainly of director Anees Bazmee walking off the sets because of Salman’s interference during the shooting. Everyone thought, the film had run into trouble – especially creative. But as Salman’s many films have revealed, cinematic quality has little to do with his hits. Ready released to terrible reviews by critics but audiences flocked to cinemas again and again and it became a huge hit.

still of Salman Khan from Ready — Ready released to terrible reviews but audiences flocked to cinemas & it became a huge hit.

Salman Khan Owns Eid

It was followed by the superstar’s Eid release, Bodyguard. Produced by his sister, Alvira, and brother-in-law, Atul Agnihotri, it turned out to be the biggest hit of the year, setting the couple up for years to come, just as Dabangg brought in fortunes to producer-brother Arbaaz Khan. Bodyguard broke all opening records, netting over Rs. 20 crore on the first day in India! The film released on Wednesday to coincide with the festive occasion of Eid, proving once again that Salman and the festive day make for the deadliest combination. Last year too, he had a bumper film opening on Eid with Dabangg which had smashed all previous records on the day of its release, netting Rs. 14.35 crore on the first day. But Bodyguard surpassed all of that by a wide margin – pulling in a historic Rs. 20.5 crore on the opening day! This is still the highest first-day net collection.

Salman Khan’s Magic At Overseas Box-Office

Bodyguard worked its magic Overseas too. It opened in Dubai on Tuesday because Eid was celebrated a day earlier there, and collected 11 lakh dirhams, which was 4 lakh dirhams more than the previous record-holding film – again a Salman Khan starrer, Dabangg. In the UK, where also Bodyguard saw release on Tuesday, the first day’s record gross was £60,000. On Wednesday, the gross collection jumped to £2,00,000, which is the highest single week-day collection ever!

With box-office records in India and overseas tumbling like ninepins for Salman Khan, is there a doubt that he owned 2011?