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What Can Shah Rukh Khan Do To Improve His Career In 2016?
Is Shah Rukh Khan's career over? That's what one editorial in The Daily O posts, given his absence from the top five grossers of 2015 and the money his distributors lost at the box office.
Setting aside from the writer Sunil Rajguru calling his readers stupid for not realizing how box office math works, Rajguru's theory seems to make sense. Dilwale was affected tremendously by its initial bans in Rajasthan and Maharashtra, which made it harder for producers to earn their money back during opening weekend. Currently, the film has made 350 crores worldwide with more profits coming from the United Kingdom, Germany and Austria along with the film's releasing a day earlier in the United Arab Emirates.
SRK sits in the makeup chair with Oscar-nominated makeup artist Greg Cannom.
Photo Credit: Indian Express
Photo Credit: Indian Express
Khan also felt the burn from the reactions to the film. He talked about it as a personal disappointment, "I don’t think the film has done as well as it should have. I am personally disappointed with that. To be honest, it has perhaps not done as well in India as I would like it to do. But overseas it has done very well in a lot of countries like Germany, Austria. It is quite thrilling that Indian films are reaching far and wide. There is a lot of business opportunities," he said to The Indian Express.
As a producer, Shah Rukh Khan often makes his initial money for his distributors with the domestic box office, foreign box office, music rights, satellite TV rights and brand promotions and placements to factor in. It's unfortunate that the box office has become such a talking point for the films we watch, but in SRK's case, it's a glaring case of the actor's declining brand.
While he's appeared with comedy groups like Shudh Desi Endings to poke fun at Gerua and TVF in their spoof of what happens when you criticize the Kajol-SRK jodi, they're endearing and witty. But you can't help but wonder why he's promoting so excessively with the young and viral crowd. Is it to show that he's still hip with the youngsters?
Instead of worrying about his declining stock, SRK seems to be attempting something else with his next two films: Fan and Raees. There's lots of chatter from Rajguru's article that these pictures will be affected by his high premium and all that business jargon, but what most fans love about Shah Rukh is his work. Portraying a superstar and his fan, Fan looks like an interesting film — and it's already created a buzz with SRK's prosthetics and from working with Maneesh Sharma, who's done Band Baajaa Baaraat and Shuddh Desi Romance. Pairing with a new director under his most-associated banner of Yashraj Films could mean that SRK might not need to over-promote the film. It's not his production venture.
Raees is the movie that we're most excited for. SRK plays a gangster in 1980s Gujarat opposite Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Pakistani actress Mahira Khan. While it seems like the riskier venture, SRK's gritty look in the film and his indie director, Rahul Dholakia, look like they'll let SRK indulge his actorly roots instead of phoning it in like he usually does.
We doubt that SRK's career is over — as much as the fear-mongering persists. But it's true that his future films have a lot riding on them in terms of delivering hits and returning us to an SRK who's not afraid to try something new and who relies on something more than his outstretched arms.
Main Image Photo Credit: The Cine Circle
Rumnique Nannar
Author
Rumnique Nannar is a new journalist with a passion for all things pop culture, film, and art. Rumnique was born in London, with a predilection for devouring English chocolate with her Vogue, ANOKHI, and Glamour magazines in tow. She is currently in her Journalism Masters at UBC. Connect ...
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