Is it the end of Shah Rukh ? And how will the Salman era last ?

Lets face it guys..... This I am talking to all fans of SRK , like me....I may have liked Don 2 , but nobody else has . Everybody I know is saying that the movie sucks big time , and it is likely to bite the dust .

Anyway , its sad to see an actor of the caliber of Shah Rukh being panned by everyone , but facts are facts !!

After the megafailure of RA one , this is another failure of Shah Rukh , and with two megafailures of this kind , the question naturally arises---what next ??

By what next , I dont mean his position of Badshah of Bollywood , a position which he has already lost a couple of years back. Now its a question of sheer survival.....

Will he at all survive even as a second rate star , or is he finished completely ??

Of course , Shah Rukh will remain as one of the most memorable actors hindi cinema has ever seen , and nobody can take away the fact that he was number one for 12 years from 1996 to 2008 . He has been included in the list of the ten greatest male stars that hindi movies have seen ( the others being Dilip Kumar , Raj Kapoor , Dev Anand , Shammi Kapoor , Dharmendra , Rajesh Khanna , Amitabh Bachhan , Amir Khan and Salman Khan ) , and even his worst detractors will not be able to take his name out of the list .

His success started with Baazigar and Darr , and he had some creditable performances in that era like Baazigar , where he got the audience's sympathy inspite of the fact that he kills innocent people ( like actress Resham Tipnis and others )in his path of revenge---such a performance has never been enacted by anyone else , even by stalwarts like Amitabh and Dilip Kumar .

His next hit Darr again showed him as a crazed psycho---but he was able to pull off a great performance again !! People were cheering him instead of Sunny Deol , who was the film's hero !!

Other performances like Raju ban gaya gentleman , Kabhie haan kabie naa also showed his spontaneity in acting .

And then came the path breaking DDLJ . It converted him into a heartthrob overnight , and laid the foundation of his future career , besides making him number one star .

However , after DDLJ , many of his male fans deserted him---for he got into the rut of making the same kind of films with the Aditya Chopras and Karan Johars . Only some of them , like DDLJ itself , Kal ho na ho , Kabhie alvida naa kehanaa or a different film like Chak de India were good . Others like Mohobattein and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie gam were just about okay , while films like Dil to pagal hai and Kuch kuch hota hai were outright bad .

Due to repetitive same kind of films , the male audiences living in India began to hate him but never mind !!!---He was the darling of women , who regularly lined up the theaters , handkerchief for wiping the tears in hand , for he was the matinee idol of mushy tearjerking romance.....
And the NRIs loved him too , from the sands of the middle east to the icy snows of Canada---fuelling a Badshahdom lasting from 1996 ( DDLJ ) to 2008 .

However , whats over is over.....
His last hit was Rab ne bana dee jodi , which was released in december 2008 . ' My name is Khan ' was loved by the international muslim audiences in 2009 , but the Indian audiences hated it . So for the past 2 years he has not had a single real hit .

So is it time for Shah Rukh to fade quietly into the sunset ??

And as the sun sets for one star , it arises for another---such is the natural progression of things.....

And the one who is rising is none other than Salman Khan , the proverbial bad boy of Bollywood . Dabbang tilted him to superpopularity , and his success in turning even a bad film like Bodyguard into a realtime moneyspinner shows his awesome hold over the box office .

In truth , I have never liked Salman Khan---neither as a person , nor as an actor .Remember he is a drunkard , has killed a man by driving in a drunken state on him in Bandra , beats his girlfriends regularly and has killed a black buck , besides many many other controversies. The only thing that I respect him for is that he is a patriotic Indian who respects the hindu religion and does not mind dancing at his father's ganpati . This is unlike Shah Rukh who has turned more and more islamic over the years , to the point of welcoming everyone with an adaab nowadays . Otherwise Salman has no acting skills whatsoever , and is liked more by the poor lower masses than the classes . Of course , it is the lower masses who form the majority of the population in this poor country , so its their hero who wins !!

But has supersuccess come too late for the pint sized ( his height is only 5 feet 6 inches ) Khan ?? Today is his 45th birthday , and generally stars start fading in their fifties .Other than the great Dharmendra , no one managed to maintain his standard in his fifties and sixties . So judging by that scale , Salman's reign at the top will last only 6 to 7 years . Thats only half of Shah Rukh's reign , which lasted more than 12 years . The fact is that Shah Rukh had the advantage of being at number one in his younger years , so he could last longer . Salman has become number one in his midforties !!

On the other hand Dharmendra himself has said that he sees shades of himself in Salman's stardom and personality---so who knows ?? Maybe like garam Dharam himself did , Sallu may remain at the top even in his fifties ....

So it might be interesting to see how long Salman number one position lasts .My guess is 6 years , but I dont mind being proved wrong.....

PS---however , neither was Shah Rukh ever a superstar , nor will Salman ever be one . Only Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh managed to reach that level .

---Written by myself ( Ashdoc )

Salman's reign at the top will last only 6 to 7 years .

more like 6-7 months. he is churning out stupid movies and that can't last long. he is the new mithun chakravarthy of bollywood.

Sorry to say Ashdoc, but lots of flaws in your article.

Tracy Whitney wrote:Sorry to say Ashdoc, but lots of flaws in your article.

point them out and we will have an interesting debate

Shahrukh is over-rated. He got neither the acting skills nor the macho looks. He is lucky to have survived so long. Ya, i drooled over him when i was younger. But then,i had no taste at the time. I loved his hair and his energy. Now i'm like *puke* @ the mention of his name.

Ps: salman needs to retire too. He ain't no good.

kinnera wrote:Shahrukh is over-rated. He got neither the acting skills nor the macho looks. He is lucky to have survived so long. Ya, i drooled over him when i was younger. But then,i had no taste at the time. I loved his hair and his energy. Now i'm like *puke* @ the mention of his name.

Ps: salman needs to retire too. He ain't no good.

you dont say...

I never drooled at SRK, but have always liked him.

This movie, Don2, was all about style, and he delivered. Besides, it was a well made movie... well scripted and well produced, all good performances. Shows the kind of confidence and money people are still putting on him. He is a HUGE international draw, so he will keep getting mega projects, atleast for the time being...

Ashdoc, I will point out the flaws when I have a little more time.

If at all the most patriotic Khan is Amir khan ..i like his movies too

shah rukh is plastic he has been stylized no end .i like his stage shows abroad more than his movies ..he has a good rapprt with the public

i feel he is all about money ..he does any and every commercial that pays him ..he dances at weddings ..he hosts award shows ..all for big bucks

so he will never be fading ..oh no