Years when a megastar didnt have a release, like Salman in 2013

The working style of mega-stars has seen a significant change in the past 2 decades or so in the Hindi Film Industry. Big stars used to have multiple releases in a year and such a phenomenon was quite prominent during the 70s, 80s and to an extent even in the 90s. But due to wide expansion of global markets for Indian Cinema and the continuous inflow of big corporate investors, the pressure to deliver has grown manifold on the stake holders.

A big star is no longer just a Hindi Industry superstar but a ‘Brand’ that is expected to return profits for all its investors. Two decades back, stars could get away with even 5-6 consecutive flops but today even if a single movie fails to open well, the stardom of the ‘Brand’ becomes questionable. As a result, most major stars are opting for one or a maximum of two releases a year. The break from the big screen raises the curiosity level amongst the audience and hence increases the prospects of the movie at the ticket window.

Salman SRK Aamir Hrithik

Salman SRK Aamir Hrithik

2013 is going to be the first year without a superstar, who is arguably the biggest in the industry today. Ever since Salman Khan  made his debut with ‘Biwi Ho To Aisi’ in 1988, he has had a release every single year. For fans of the actor who will miss him on the big screen this year, Salman will be seen as a regular host of television reality show ‘Bigg Boss’ which will start from September 15. Apart from that, he will also be seen in cameos in movies like ‘Ishqk in Paris’ (already released) and ‘Phata Poster Nikla Hero’. His last release was ‘Dabangg 2’ in the last week of 2012 and his next ‘Mental’ is scheduled to release in January 2014. Hence, 2013 will be the first break for Salman Khan in a career spanning more than 25 years!

Salman’s good friend Aamir Khan started doing fewer movies since the early days of his career. He is leading the list as far as the break years are concerned, and is credited for starting the trend of shooting for only one movie at a time. He took a huge 4 year gap between ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ and ‘Mangal Pandey’, and followed it up with a 3 year gap between ‘3 Idiots’ and ‘Talaash’ if we discount a non-commercial film like ‘Dhobi Ghaat’. Hence there are 5 years – 2002,2003,2004,2010 and 2011 – when no Aamir Khan movie released.

Coming to the third Khan, Shah Rukh Khan did not have a major release in 2009. Although he was seen in a cameo in ‘Billu’, this was the only year in his career without a major release. Hrithik Roshan, on the other hand, also plays it slow and steady. As compared to other mega stars, Hrithik’s career is only 13 years old but in that 3 years have passed by without any release – 2005, 2007, and 2009. However, in 2009 he was seen in a small cameo in ‘Luck By Chance’.

Years when a one of the top stars didn’t have a release

  • Aamir Khan – 2002, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2011
  • Hrithik Roshan – 2005, 2007, 2009
  • Shahrukh Khan – 2009
  • Salman Khan – 2013

That brings us to the one and only Akshay Kumar. The Khiladi has defied all logic and has amazingly managed to maintain his superstardom even with multiple releases. In a career that began more than 22 years, there has been not a single year when an Akshay Kumar hasn’t hit the silver screen. Infact, there are only 2 years in his career when he had less than 3 releases in a year – 2001 and 2003. In terms of number of releases, Akshay is only competing with himself today. No wonder he is the only star whose movies have cumulatively collected a whopping 2000 crore of net business.

How many movies would you want to see your favourite star in?

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Abhishek Sharma tweets @abhu_sharma

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49 Comments

  • No matter how many movies a superstar does per year, but those movies shouldn’t be good content wise.

    Just like last year Akshay Kumar did 5 movies, but 3 of them were craps (Rowdy Rathore, Joker, Khiladi 786). Also he has done some other crap movies like Tees maar khan, Chandni Chowk to China etc.

    Another example of an actor doing bad movies is Salman Khan (ETT, Ready, Dabangg 2, Bodyguard).

    No doubt movies need to be profitable, but a good movie should be selected by stars so that a movie can earn well and also win peoples heart.

  • Who said SRK’s movies only work just coz of big banners, for them here is some info:

    * SRK Debut with Deewana that was also a Raj Kanwar’s Debut Movie Result: Superhit
    * Raju Ban Gaya Gentelman Aziz Mirza’s 1st movie after gr8 success of Circus at TV with SRK as well. Result: Above Average
    * Yash Raj’s Last 2 films were flop before Darr (Superhit) but SRK did the movie which Aamir rejected earlier, after that SRK supporting his son to become a director. So that Adi did DDLJ (ATBB), Yash Chopra DTPH (Superhit) after these three big money spinners Yash Raj becomes biggest banner in India, then they started to promote new talent.
    * Dharma Production: Duniya, Muqadar Ka Faisla, Agneepath, Gumrah all were big flops but SRK not only did KKHH (ATBB) but also supports Karan to become a Director. Now Dharma Production is one of the Indias most reliable and successful production house.
    * Mukta Arts: after disastrus Trimurti no one was ready to do a film with Subhash Ghai, but at that time SRK was there behind Subhash Ghai and did Pardes (Hit).
    * KHNH (Superhit) Debut Nikal Advani after that Nikal is still looking for even a hit. KHNH shows SRK’s power.
    * MHN (Superhit), OSO (Blockbuster): Farah Khan Debut with SRK at the time when no one was ready to take a risk at her as a Director. After that Farah did TMK (Flop).
    * Dil Chahta Hai (Average), Lakshay (Flop) but SRK did Don (Hit) which becomes Farhan Akhtar & Excel Entertainment’s Higest Grosser the Don-2 (Superhit). U can check the collections of All Excel Entertainments releases and check which star’s movies were more profitable.

    So it shows SRK makes them Successful not they did something for SRK. Powerful Sir KING KHAN

  • Akshay has record of giving 6 hits in single year ie 1994. He released 11 films in that year which is also record. That year would have been entertaining for akshay fans.

  • These so-called SRK haters, I believe must be SRK fans in the beginning. The reason they turned down must be coz when they tried to imitate as a cool college going guy who charms every girl with his eyes and dimply smile, they FAILED! And they realised that they cant have a romantic life like SRK has been showing in his movies. They were disappointed. They felt much closer to Sallu (who is also a failure in his lovelife as Aish married somebody else) and Amir(who being married and having grownup kids had affair with another woman and eventually divorced his wife for her).
    Whatmore can I say, These so-called fans are still alone, without either girlfriend or wife…and they still stalk every single article written on SRK and comment on it showing their hatred and disappointment.
    May God bless You! :)

  • i think this one year wait for a salman movie is too much to handle for salman fans.. the anticipation will be huge.. his fans will throng to the cinema halls.. dont be surprised if records take a tumble even with a non holiday release.. one request to salman khan, plz stop doing charity work towards ur family like arbaaz, sohail n atul agnihotri n making their films blockbusters just through ur stardom n screen presence alone.. they r just making money using ur name.. reject their films in future n work with other big banners n directors who r eager to work with u.. just bcoz of ur family commitments u r missing out in working with other directors n banners.. as ur fan i request u to think about it.. no doubt mental will be a blockbuster, there is no question about it but i would like to see u work with competent directors n banners

  • @duplicate hrithik : from where did u come ? i have been using this id from a year. plz use another id. Thnx :)

  • 2 films per yr, n yeah hrithik and aamir hav always gone fr quality ovr quantity, a big salute to both who consider demselves more as “ACTORS” dan as “SUPERSTARS”. Akshay kumar is a brilliant exception, n hats off to d way he maintains d stardom. srk n salman r almst in a similar way.

  • akshay knows only quantity not quality thats why most of his movies are flops…who cares he is pathetic in acting anyways

  • Thats why akshay is star to wtach….each and evry director wants to work with him..also he charges a huge sum..second…he bring entertainment round the year to all the fans..other wise bolyywood would have dependent on b grade movies…and other industry would have excell like tollywood and others….whatever amount his film earns gose to bollywood….and last …no controvery is attched with this actor..he is self made.no bad habbits of smoking drinking….also even his film flops multiple director approach him for next release….he rises from failure…this is called a true superstar who entartains fans,make happy the directors,bollywood industry, etc etc

  • Salman can do 5-6 movies because he only copies south, so its not a big deal…. But he is doing publicity by doing 1 or 2 movie per year…. That’s cheap

  • AAMIR STARTS IT EVERYBODY FOLLOWS IT NOTHING NEW! He sings Aati kya khandala srk follows with apun bola..he is legend!

  • I don’t know about others but for me two things matter:
    1st is FIFA World Cup and
    2nd is An Aamir khan movie …Seriously Waiting for Aamir Khan starrer is like waiting for a big event to me.

  • I want to see TWO films a year from SRK; SALMAN; AKSHAY; RANBIR; SHAHID; AJAY; SAIF…I think these are the only actors that can do 2 films a year easily as it’s no strange pace for them and make them successfful..as for Aamir and Hrithik i think 1 film a year is enough like this year especially when that film is a huge one!

  • SRK now did one film per year and its a wise move and there would be no over exposure like akshay. Hats off to SRK 4 giving us Chennai Express oh sorry Records express in this year as Entertainmet express. We love u SRK give Us more Chennais not Mentals and Idiots and gabbars we want another records express next year

  • Chennai Express finally crosses 400 cr worldwide.
    News –
    Aug 10 – Chennai express after collecting 6.75 cr from paid previews had the highest
    first and single day collection with 33.12 cr.
    Aug 17 – Chennai express nets 6.50 cr from second friday and has collection of 163 cr
    after setting record for highest second day, third day, non holiday wednesday,
    and seventh day, fastest to net 100 cr, (3+1 days) fastest to net 150cr (7+1 days)
    Aug 24 – Chennai express nets 2.12 cr on third friday and is now the highest grossing film
    in India, fastest to net 200cr (14+1 days)
    Aug 30 – Chennai express nets about 200.75cr (box office india)
    Aug 30 – Chennai express nets 17.86 cr in third week and has a total net of 218.42cr
    (official)
    Aug 30 – Chennai express has netted 211cr in 3 weeks and is now ahead of 3 idiots,
    success is due to good content, good timing and good luck
    (boxofficeindia editor Vajir Singh in an interview with AFP)
    Aug 31 – Chennai express grosses 400cr worldwide (calculations based on popular trade
    analysts and official figures)
    Setback – Failure to outgross 3 Idiots overseas, also behind My Name is Khan there.
    Note 3 Idiots collected $15 M in first phase of release. Afterwards has grossed
    around $10 M overseas major collections in China and South Korea.

  • Arguably the biggest superstar in industry – Salman Khan.

    Well, with that one line Indicine has nailed the hearts of srkians.lol. We can now hear them crying Indicine is biased blah blah.

    Aamir did not do movies in 2002-04 because of his personal tensions in his family, as he himself said, because of which he took a break.

    Salman had undergone treatment due to which his eid 2013 release got postponed.

  • @CERocks. Bro… you must have done a lots of research behind Srk supporting all new directors. nicely written article.

  • Everyone knows that before CE Rohit’s last 3 outings took too many days to reach 100cr. But when SRK comes with Rohit just 3 days and 100cr was over. So thats power of Sir KING KHAN.

  • @CE ROCKS: r u out of ur mind bro!!!! u consider Dil chahta hai an average movie!!! forget the collection, look at the content. and the same goes for lakhsya… this makes clear how dumb u r and what kinda movies u like!!! if u r writing such a long comment, better be specific… DCH is a cult movie… n m sure u wud have watched CE, OSO, Dabang such kinda movies in theatre but wudnt have given a try for DCH, Special 26 Lakshya….

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