The Year Of Salman Khan: Diwali To Diwali

This is the first in a series of special Diwali articles by Koimoi.com, analyzing events in the Hindi film industry in the year gone by.

Box-Office Loves Salman Khan

The year from Diwali 2010 to Diwali 2011 was definitely the year of Salman Khan. Two years ago, his Main Aur Mrs. Khanna couldn’t survive even one week in cinemas and was premiered on the DTH platform within five days of its release. After the release of Wanted (in September 2009), he’s had a run that even he couldn’t have dreamed of – Dabangg, Ready and now, Bodyguard – Main Aur Mrs. Khanna notwithstanding. How fate changed for Salman is unfathomable, but the film industry has been reaping the harvest ever since. Salman’s Bodyguard netted an unbelievable Rs. 20+ crore on the first day, on the festive occasion of Eid, making it the highest single day net collection for any film, ever. Obviously, Salman owns Eid in Bollywood: last Eid, his Dabangg had smashed all previous records on the day of its release, netting Rs. 14.35 crore on the opening day. In the Overseas circuit too, the opening day’s gross collection of Bodyguard in Dubai was 11 lakh dirhams, which was 4 lakh dirhams more than the previous record-holding film – again a Salman Khan starrer, Dabangg. In the UK, the first day’s record gross of Bodyguard was £60,000 but the next day, which was Eid (the film opened in UK a day before Eid), the gross collection jumped to £2,00,000, which is the highest single week-day collection ever for a Hindi film! Nobody has calculated this before, but on the Eid day, Salman Khan must be the world’s biggest star!

On Eid day, Salman Khan must be the world’s biggest star!

Salman’s Motto: No Pain, No Gain?

Salman’s box-office score counts, of course, but what has endeared him to his fans in particular and audiences in general is that he has been going through an awful amount of pain and still, hasn’t let it show at all while shooting for his films and while hosting his TV shows. Perhaps, a few insiders, his family and close friends were aware of Salman’s ailments but the media and masses didn’t have a clue that he had been suffering from a neurological disorder called trigeminal neuralgia as well as an aneurysm in his brain. Finally, when the news got out, Salman admitted that at times, the pain was so bad, he was tempted to bang his head against a wall; and that some of the unfortunate victims of trigeminal neuralgia had even committed suicide to get rid of the pain. Even when Salman finally went to America and through a couple of surgeries, he was back on his feet and shooting in Dublin for Yash Raj Films’ Ek Tha Tiger before the news of his recovery had spread across the country. These were not simple surgeries but Salman went through them, before and after, like a true soldier or, should we say, bodyguard? Despite his almost two decades of uninterrupted stardom, this is the best time of his life for Salman. The film industry must be praying that his dream run continues for many years, for, Salman in combination with Eid, is an ever-flowing ATM, and a most welcome one at that.