Five years without Salman, is India ready?

by Shivendra Singh · May 6, 2015

Now that the actor will be behind the bars soon, another era will be unravelled in Bollywood where Salman would no longer be in the picture (Source: Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)

For the past five years Salman Khan has been having a dream run at the box office with seven successive hits under his belt. It was a phase, and it seems to be over now with the actor sentenced to five years in the 2002 hit-and-run case. Even if he follows the footsteps of Sanjay Dutt and shoots during furlough, we doubt if he can continue the magic.

Also read: Salman Khan sentenced to 5 years in jail, sad day for Bollywood

Now that the actor will be behind the bars soon, another era will be unravelled in Bollywood where Salman would no longer be in the picture, and his brand of cinema taking a backseat. It is a huge setback to the film industry that has hundreds of crores invested on the actor.

Starting from Dabangg in 2010, Salman Khan reinvented masala cop action dramas that were all rage in Bollywood of the 1970’s, sprinkling in some Salman-isms, that may not have made sense for the purists; he pulled the crowds to single screen cinemas and multiplexes alike. We doubt, any other actor, including SRK, Aamir, Ranbir, Shahid, or even Ranveer will be able to do this as succesfully as him.

Salman ‘Dabangg’ Khan

Salman Khan also remains the king of the 100-crore club with seven blockbusters. However, he hasn’t been able to top the newly formed 200-crore club, with Aamir Khan leading that list. The fate of Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Prem Ratan Dhan Paayo, remain to be seen as they hit theatres on July 17 and November 11 this year. With Salman not in the picture, the number of films totalling this number might be affected.

Salman Khan’s ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ will enjoy a five-day weekend as it has taken over the Diwali slot this year. Sooraj Barjatya’s directorial venture, which also stars Sonam Kapoor, will release on November 11, 2015.

It is also now clear that Salman Khan will not be the face of the latest season of one of the most controversial TV shows, Bigg Boss. Couch potatoes will miss the actor who was associated with the show for five seasons. Arshad Warsi, Shilpa Shetty, Amitabh Bachchan hosted the respective three seasons, but it was Salman who got the audiences hooked to the show. Change is good alright, but we will miss Salman in Bigg Boss.

Salman Khan shaking a leg with Arjun Kapoor

Besides, everybody so wanted the actor to get married and ‘settle down’. The junta will miss the speculative stories around Salman’s love life. Will his rumoured girlfriend Iulia Vantur, if something is actually happening between the two, wait for another five years? If not, at 55, will Salman find love again?

Will Iulia wait for Salman Khan?