SRK begins difficult stage of career as he looks to emulate Aamir Khan.
By The American Bazaar Staff
WASHINGTON, DC: There is no doubt that Shah Rukh Khan didn’t miss a single marketing trick to promote Happy New Year: including an unprecedented tour of North America – 10 years after his ‘Temptations’ tour – with almost the full cast of the film in tow, months of teasers of the film released periodically in India, with all the works, the ‘band, baaja baraat’ of clever advertising campaigns creating buzz in small towns and big cities.
In fact, abnormally, the campaign is still going on, two weeks after the release of the film. Make no mistake: the consummate and slick brand salesman he is, SRK’s 49th birthday means more of a pitch opportunity for Happy New Year; appearances in Kolkata is more of an appeal to his Knight Riders fan base to go watch HNY again, and again, spread the good word.
SRK’s method was simple enough, to achieve two (egoistical) goals in one gigantic marketing blitz, when he set out to promote HNY: one, to get the biggest prize of all – the tag of the most successful film in India, as in the one who raked the most money in, and two, to be known as the best actor in Bollywood – a tag that eluded him despite all the commercial hits an actor can hope for. Come to think of it, when was the last commercial flop of SRK, despite critical reviews he has received?
But anyway, as SRK chose to inform the public recently, he doesn’t read reviews (unless they are funny, he said – but maybe he doesn’t quite understand or tries hard not to understand satire), so good for him! Combine that with a director like Farah Khan, who goes like, “duh, what’s originality?” when asked of the lack of one in her Happy New Year, it seems paradise on earth for movies with little substance, mediocre acting performance and little imaginative direction.
And perhaps, SRK chose HNY as the film to make the plunge for the biggest advertising and marketing noise, as the film was in a similar mold as Aamir Khan’s Dhoom 3: a slick crime caper, with a revenge motif. His reasoning: if HNY could break Dhoom 3’s record, in one go he would break or at least dent Aamir Khan’s iron-clad grip on Bollywood as the best actor and also, as the one who ends up making the most money for his director too.
For the film, SRK got the wishful cast he thought would do the smooth trick: Abhishek Bachchan from the Dhoom franchise, Boman Irani from 3 Idiots, Sonu Sood – the most saleable and best-built ‘bad’ man in Bollywood today, after the era of Amrish Puri, and of course, the one who can take credit for Dabangg’s success as well, and his lucky mascot, the ravishing Deepika Padukone. What could go wrong?
After all, SRK had announced on stage at an awards meet that for him, it was thinking big that matters, that if one were to think big, then Rs. 100 crores was too small, it should be Rs. 10,000 crores. That drew him plenty of applause then. SRK would have hoped HNY would make at least Rs. 800 crores, giving it an unassailable lead, as one would say in cricket.
But it’s now becoming obvious, as The American Bazaar had predicted earlier, that HNY is going to struggle to get past the Rs. 250 crore mark in India, and in the process, SRK has got the most terrible review for a hit Rs. 100 crores film in India, barring perhaps Chennai Express (let’s not go into the types of the salacious sexy caper Grand Masti types right now; that’s for another day). Read that story here:
HNY’s not breaking Dhoom 3’s record is bad news for King Khan.
Over the years, SRK has been relegated slowly, transmogrified into a director’s actor, a puppet like creature that earned the big bucks not because of his own abilities, but because of the money lavished on the film, the scale and special effects of the film, the fabulous song and dance numbers. It didn’t matter how bad the film was. By the time the gullible public in India (in between intakes of bouts of T20 cricket) woke up grumbling from their seats, the film had blown past the Rs. 100 crores mark, a modern day Milkha Singh kind of effort with minimal effort.
Awards for SRK at the annual Bollywood film jamboree circuit were more of a tamasha, organizers’ acknowledgment of his being on stage being an emcee and to help boost ratings for TV broadcasters, rather than his histrionic prowess.
For the record though, and to be fair to him, SRK has won 14 Filmfare Awards from 30 nominations. This year, he was acknowledged by Forbes as the second-richest actor in the world, with a net worth of $600 million.
But SRK has not done any meaningful roles like Chak De! India, Swades, Hey Ram or My Name is Khan for a long time, or even films with a reasonably good script like Om Shanti Om, or even the popular Veer-Zaara and Rab Ne Banadi Jodi, the latter being two of his most recent successful, romantic films. Dil Se was done so far back, that it’s impossible to think of SRK in that kind of role again.
Aamir Khan, meanwhile, has reshaped himself as the Tom Hanks of Bollywood, an actor who could take any role and transform it into pure viewing pleasure, drew huge audiences, and satisfy film aficionados too. He took on less number of films, but then that in itself turned out to be the biggest advertising gimmick of all, beating easily SRK’s over the top moves to promote himself and his films. Aamir has less Filmfare awards compared to SRK, but has won four National Film Awards, a feat SRK has still to open his account in.
Head to head, both actors, have had their share of romantic and comedy films: with Aamir’s Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988) a more nuanced romantic film and arguably the better of the two cinematically than SRK’s Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995). But both films had the advantage of charismatic actresses like Juhi Chawla and Kajol who attained cult status after doing their respective roles. The melodious and hit music tracks also helped a lot in making the films huge commercial successes.
But in SRK’s career phase, taking on the remake of Amitabh Bachchan’s cult film Don, in 2006, was a big risk as well as a smart choice. And maybe, it’s also a gauge of when SRK decided that he really wanted to be known as the best and the most renowned in the industry, not just being touted as the evergreen romantic hero – leave that to Rajesh Khanna.
For one, the newer generations, who had not been exposed to Bachchan Senior’s exploits in the original version, accepted him as the super cool, smooth gangster for whom nothing was impossible. It also gave SRK’s meager acting repertoire an instant new avatar, and created a new fan base for him. It’s quite likely he drew immense pleasure from what in his mind was a gauge of better success than Bachchan: to make more money through the remake. Mission accomplished!
However, the plan to emulate Bachchan was a poor move too, as it also in the process exposed SRK’s acting and timing weaknesses. While the film made $17 million worldwide, the onus was now on SRK to keep alive his new persona of the indefatigable, unbeatable villain-turned hero in films like Don 2 and Ra.One. He also took on Chennai Express last year, again, a mish mash of the unbeatable romantic hero, with Padukone providing all the props for the film’s success.
No wonder then, that Khan did the smart thing of announcing that he wanted the name of his lead female co-stars to appear above his own in the credits, for future films. It was as much an acknowledgment of Padukone, as it was to actresses like Kajol (DDLJ), Preity Zinta (Veer-Zaara), Manisha Koirala (Dil Se), and Aishwarya Rai (Devdas), who played a big part in his success over the years.
In the same time frame, since 2006, Aamir Khan started on a career path which was different from SRK; he took on roles which gave him ample opportunity to show his tremendous acting abilities, unmindful of what his fan base thought of him, with Rang De Basanti, in 2006, being in stark contrast to SRK’s Ra.One, released the same year.
After Lagaan, released in 2001, critically acclaimed Dil Chahta Hai, Mangal Pandey: The Rising, Taare Zameen Par, Ghajini and then 3 Idiots made Aamir Khan an iconic actor. His stint on TV with Satyamev Jayate, even as SRK was busy rousing crowds in Kolkata with the Knight Riders, established him as also an actor who was a big humanitarian, gave hm global recognition for fighting the cause of the impoverished and defenseless people everywhere, not just India. Then came Dhoom 3, and created another round of history for Aamir.
So, when SRK announced recently that he wanted to work with Aamir, it’s another strategic game being played all over again by the Badshah of Bollywood: if you can’t beat the best, then try and be on par with the best, seems to be his new motto.
In all likelihood, SRK knows that tomorrow, another 100 crore venture film of his may net 500 crores or more worldwide, but Aamir Khan has the capacity to overcome those numbers easily, maybe as soon as this year when PK releases.
Also, over the board promotion of a film like HNY cannot be done for all his upcoming releases, like Raees and Fan. Yearly rounds of doing concerts in North America is not going to help the box office to tick stronger, as is evident in the lukewarm experience of the public to HNY here.
For SRK, this may be an acknowledgment also of his growing limitations as an actor, even though he seems to defy age with his growing abs and packs. He will turn 50 next year, the same as Aamir Khan.
SRK is at last willing to share space with the greatest actor of Bollywood: Aamir Khan.
The question is, does Aamir Khan want to share space on an equal footing with an actor who is of much less caliber than himself?
28 Comments
Haaahhaaa….do you think it will make any difference,kingg will always remain king.And please we know how Aamir had disaster in 90’s and srk has always successful….he still rules….
These articles won’t bring him out from people’s heart….try smthng else
I would have enjoyed your article more if you weren’t so obvious in your bias for Aamir. Why haven’t you broken down Aamir’s career? Aamir’s claim to fame is by dooping the audience into thinking he’s an intellectual perfectionist while his actual recipe for success is the theory of supply and demand. He makes the audience wait for his films for a year or 2 years which results in audiences flocking to theatres to see him, while SRK has been easily accessible in terms of presence in movies, TV shows, Award ceremonies, T20 matches, Cameos, etc.Ghajini was a south remake, which he did because of the sudden rise in content in south india. 3 idiots became a success because of Raju Hirani’s script and its relevance in today’s times and so did PK even though it had a weaker script. Dhoom 3 was a terribly unoriginal film stealing aspects of the brilliant Prestige and the autism aspect from My name is khan. Also it is undeniable that SRK had lost his grip on indian audiences after MNIK/IPL fiasco and a spate of bad film choices. Salman and Aamir took the opportunity to rise from the dead and have managed to take the lead in indian audience’s hold. To sum up my rant, Aamir is not a brilliant actor, He is a con artist with a few good film choices.
The recent case where WW collection of Dilwale is more than BM and PRDP and is just 1 mil away from beating BB’s overseas collection despite clash with Star Wars, shows that SRK has not lost stardom and definitely it’s not the end of his career. Be a bit professional when writing articles.
The no. of disasters Aamir has given is more than SRK’s disaster (only YLJK).
Woww such hatred and in our words make me believe that while writing this article you might have been pulling out your hair. I hope u didn’t go bald by now or u would have. So in professional and childish artical. MrAmir has made good movies lately. Say it luck or good choice of films but we all know that Shah Rukh khan is the most original actor that makes u believe in any character he plays. He has the ability to make hate him or fall in love with him. king khan is already the king of hearts and will be. Yyou are too small to even discuss him. Such crap writing
i don’t know when aamir won national award ,aamir’s movies movies won national awards for your kind information SRK’s movies also won national awards ,aamir never won a national award for his acting (as a actor) so don’t be biased say the truth if aamir is a bigger star than how his MOvie talash failed to cross 100cr mark in india and every SRK movie crossed 100cr mark in india and all are 200cr worldwide gross movies
PK Raped Haklu’s Whole Career,Gay Fans, go and hide in gutter, thats where you all hail from.
Flash News:- Guantanamo use SRGAY’s Films such as Maya Memsab, CE,
Billu, Ra-One, HNY…etc as a killing Ponishement for the Terrorist
hhhhh
Well after reading the article i am feeling that this the most ill logical article i have ever read. On one hand have Srk who has covered journey from common man to king n other hand aamir who is here bcoz of his father. Srk is someone who has been compared wid international actors and who is second richest actor intge world n aamir who is just a begger in front of srk. Article says that srk wants to do a movie with aamir but reality is aamir is only begging to do a movie with srk. I have also read in article that aamir first movie was better than ddlj. Lolz. Perhaps writer must have written this article while masturbating. Thats y thr is no logic in it. The acting which has veen performed by srk is superb and aamir cant perform even 50% even if. Hebis dieng n taking birth 10 times. Dnt ever compared srk with aamir. Srk is king of bollywood n aamir is just a result of his father mistake of spending night with some bitch.
Aamir Khan Is True Legend Real Box office King.
Sarook Is King Of Over Acting.
Average Star
In India-Aamir Khan
In Overseas-Aamir Khan.
Where Is Global King.
In Paratha Mandir
PK Raped Haklu’s Whole Career.
Rip Average star Fans
A very biased discussion… Not even a discussion… It seems to be a Bharatiya Aamir Party.. Be a little more professional. I don’t oppose either Aamir or Shahrukh. Every one is perfect in their places or status….
i dont know when aamir won national awards aamir’s movies won national awards altough SRK’s movies also won several national awards
when you are writing blogs, be a lil more professional. this whole story is so biased.
CE se pehle media walo ne “SRK is Over ?” bola tha … 2000 mien srk ko over bol dia tha media walon ne … aamir ko kabhi over kahengey hee nahi coz woo kabhi upar utha hee nahi popularity mien … srk ko saab neeche geerana chahtey hien …
Let me start of by stating that HNY was an absolutely ridiculous film/business product, and that it did not deserve my money at all. Simultaneously, I regard Shah Rukh as my favorite actor. However this article isn’t so much about a decline in Shah Rukh’s popularity so much as a praise of Aamir, so I can’t take this article seriously at all.
First of all, I’ve never heard someone say that QSQT was better than DDLJ. DDLJ is on international lists of best Indian films and QSQT is more of a cult film which is not very original… how similar is it to Romeo-Juliet? I found that point kind of ridiculous. Second as for the acting, Aamir wasn’t even active between 2001-2005, and I do find that particularly relevant, as Shah Rukh did amazing work in that period (Devdas, Chalte Chalte, Kal Ho Naa Ho, Main Hoon Na, Veer-Zaara, Swades in particular). Thus, Aamir has done much less work than Shah Rukh. Take for the example of 2012: Talaash made much less than Jab Tak Hai Jaan here and in India even though it was arguably better, so the commercial draw on the name alone can be contested. Shah Rukh has also played actual villains in films like Darr, Baazigar, Anjaam, as well as a variety of unconventional characters in unconventional films like Idiot, Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, etc.
Of course, these first two claims are matters of opinion, and I could continue with those fora while. However, this article ONLY talked about Aamir. How about competition from people like Salman, Hrithik, Ranbir, etc.? I mean, Bollywood is very small, but since when was it a 2-person industry? Also… how is this guy trying to emulate Aamir Khan? Since the success of Ghajini, Shah Rukh has worked consistently with directors he has worked with previously (Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar, Farhan Akhtar, Yash Chopra, Farah Khan) and as for his home productions, Billu and Ra.ONE, they were far different than Aamir’s Dhobi Ghat. Also, Dhoom 3 is a franchise and thus it had so much success; Aamir being in it hardly made a difference beyond a certain financial point. How can this article with a straight face say that Aamir is the best actor in India when he does Dhoom 3?
Look, I think Aamir is a superlative has a brilliant choice in films (besides Dhoom 3), and let’s see if his P.K. can beat records and beyond that, be a picture people treasure. I thought this article could be about Shah Rukh’s poor choice in HNY as a film, or how he needs to re-evolve again with the resurgence of other actors. But somehow, this article was ALL about Aamir when it should’ve been about Shah Rukh. Even his acting ability was just dismissed as inferior to Aamir for no substantiated reason. Shah Rukh has so much screen presence, which I don’t really ever sense in Aamir.
To the credit of the article, I do think that Shah Rukh is trying to be versatile and not succeeding so much at the moment, greater than his brilliant and unmatched ability to be a romantic hero. Shah Rukh’s best films tend to be when he is in this mode with few exceptions. Hopefully Fan might change that. But I think the thesis of the article is very flawed and problematic for the above reasons. You should’ve made this a Shah Rukh vs. Aamir article.
The writer here seems to be somewhat inclined towards amir khan and taking that opportunity to blame on “the SRK”..I will advice you to research your facts transparently and unbiasedly. I can bet that you will find SRK above in the majority of the aspects.
the title and the last sentence is a impudence or a joke…. ?
About Shah Rukh Khan has been said often, his popularity would decline. And He has repeatedly proved the contrary …. The only people which compare Shah Rukh Khan with Aamir Khan are : YOU.
Of course, marketing is important and it is also important to change the marketing strategy in order to be successful. This is even clear to me.
Henry Ford once said: “If I had $ 5 to start a shoelace business, I’d spend $ 2 buying shoelace stock and $ 3 on advertising!” …. Well .. it is valid not only for laces .. Or?
Each actor has his own way of playing, that’s no different with Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan etc etc ….!
Each has its strong and weak sides. Sites which are also seen in the theater/cinema …. I don´t like Aamir Khan as action hero …Salman Khan not necessarily as a love heroes …. But their fans would contradict me .
Those who are brave break through this wall. Although not always successful … at least as far as their critics.
Forget the Film Critics, if the fans are happy with the performance of their heroes .
The fans buy the soundtrack, the movie tickets and more ….. millions…… means the criticism almost nothing.
And just because Shah Rukh Khan has interest to act with Aamir in a movie ….
does not mean that Shah Rukh Khan wants to bask in the glory of Aamir Khan.
And if Aamir Khan is not playing with Shah Rukh Khan in a movie that does not mean that he thinks Shah Rukh Khan is a worse actor.
I could also say that Aamir Khan does not want to play with Shah Rukh Khan … because he has fear next to Shah Rukh Khan not to be so popular .
…..But I also appreciate Aamir Khan too much, as a professional …and also as a human. …. And I think he have more Heart …….
Shah Rukh Khan has almost 10 million followers on Twitter and that’s just the tip of the iceberg !!! Declining popularit??. Forget it !!
9.November 14
Why did the article not be published ?? Doubt to be right?
In any case, it is then for me the answer that I’m right!
No, Aamir Khan is overestimated. He is nothing in international view. I dont like to see him and his films. Please do not write about the end of SRKs carriere. it´s only stupid, we fans of Europe are eagerly waiting for his next films.
who the hell are you say that aamir is nothing in international platform? he rules overseas box office. he has 2 highest grossers in overseas. shahrukh is nothing in front of him. aamir is the biggest megastar of bollywood. get the hell out of here, I hate shahrukh and his face. not gonna watch his movies. I am waiting for aamir’s movies eagerly from USA.
hahahaha……buddy aamir is nothing infront of SRK in every department…..just check all the websites of bbc, cnn, times, news week, los angels times, forbes, google, wikipedia etc…..we know this is the bloody haters site of SRK…..try to believe scientific data, records, logic & the universal truth…..aamir is not eligible to even polish the shoe of SRK…..try to grow up with mentally…..lol……
fuck off bastard fan of that overrated actor. aamir is not eligible to polish the shoes of srk,as srk himself is eligible to polish the shoes of aamir and also clean the house of aamir. aamir keeps srk kind of actors under his pocket. srk haklu is nothing in front of aamir. you better check CNN, time, news week, los angele times, google and everywhere, aamir is baap of srk. srk is 0 in front of aamir’s stardom and popularity. now fuck off you asshole fan of overrated actor.
aamir shouldn’t polish the shoes of that small actor srk, as boss doesn’t polish the shoes of his servant. so srk should polish the shoes of aamir. check in overseas, aamir is way more popular than overrated srk in USA, Canada, Japan, China, turkey, Philippines, australia, UK, new zealand, etc etc. that’s enough to prove that aamir is way more popular than sarookh.
beta veer singh,kisi ne sahi kaha hai- little knowledge is dangerous.and you genuinely fit in that.main toh abhi germany se aaya hoon wahan toh koi aamir and bachchan ko nahin pehchanta tha.tu quality ki baat karta hai toh aamir ko keh de, srk ko doggy na kahesaale cheap insan. media walo ne kya perfectonist keh diya and satyamev jayate kar raha toh apne ko india ka president samajhata hain. yeh american bazaar kya kehenge saale.
Then, who the hell are you to talk such nonsense about SRK….You cheap Aamir fan……Go to hell…And remember that if you can’t read bad about aamir then don’t talk rubbish about Srk…You dump head..
Then you asshole are fucking no body to talk against aamir. Aamir is best. No one knows srk in China, Australia, Turkey and France. Aamir is God over there. Srk is a cheap person who abused much bigger star Aamir Khan in award shows before that incident. Srk is cheap and so are his gawaar illiterate fans like you. Aamir is biggest global superstar with biggest fan following. So fuck you.
the title and the last sentence is a joke…
About Shah Rukh Khan has been said often, his popularity would decline. And He has repeatedly proved the contrary …. The are only people compare the Shah Rukh Khan with Aamir Khan: YOU.
Of course, marketing is important and it is also important to change the marketing strategy in order to be successful. This is even clear to me.
Henry Ford once said: “If I had $ 5 to start a shoelace business, I’d spend $ 2 buying shoelace stock and $ 3 on advertising!” …. Well .. it is valid not only for laces .. Or?
Each actor has his own way of playing, that’s no different with Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan etc etc ….!
Each has its strong and weak sides. Sites which are also seen in the theater …. I like Aamir Khan sure do not contradict as action hero Salman Khan and not necessarily as a love heroes …. But their fans would contradict me.
Those who are brave break through this wall. Although not always successful … at least as far as their critics.
The Critics of Movies forgets, if the fans are happy with the performance of their heroes …. means the criticism almost nothing… The Fans buy the soundtrack, the movie tickets and more ….. to millions… .
And just because Shah Rukh Khan has interest to act with Aamir in a movie ….
does not mean that Shah Rukh Khan wants to bask in the glory of Aamir Khan.
And if Aamir Khan is not playing with Shah Rukh Khan in a movie that does not mean that he thinks Shah Rukh Khan for a worse actor.
I could also say that Aamir Khan does not want to play with Shah Rukh Khan … because he has next to Shah Rukh Khan “not to be so popular fear”.
But I also appreciate Aamir Khan too much, as a professional and also as a human…. And he is bigger then you ..in heart and thoughts !
Shah Rukh Khan has almost 10 million followers on Twitter and that’s just the tip of the iceberg! Declining popularity!? Forget it!
It is the most sensible article i hv read in long time. Atleast some one sees clear picture.