At a time when box office collections of Shah Rukh Khan films are impacting his stardom as well his brand image, his new offering Zero is poised to be a game changer. His latest release is expected to be high on content, unlike his releases in the recent past.
Currently, Bollywood is in a phase where content is superseding star power. Low audience turnout for Salman and Aamir Khan films like Thugs of Hindostan, Tubelight and Race 3 is proof of this. Hence, experts are of the opinion that mediocre scripts are to be blamed for the under-performance of Shah Rukh Khan films lately.
But the industry is betting big on Zero and most of the credit goes to director Aanand L Rai, who has to his name films like Tanu Weds Manu, Raanjhana and Tanu Weds Manu Returns.
Talking to Moneycontrol, film trade analyst Joginder Tuteja said, “We are definitely looking at a good year unless the content turns out to be not-so-good which will not be the case as Zero is an Aanand L Rai film.”
What makes the success of Zero so crucial is the downfall of Shah Rukh’s films after 2014 when he delivered his last super hit film, Happy New Year. After that, neither Dilwale — that brought the successful SRK-Kajol jodi back on the big screen — nor Jab Harry met Sejal could do much to impress the audience.
In the last few years, Khan has been either advised to reinvent himself, choose better subjects or wait for a couple of years to regain his footing in the film industry.
“Zero’s success is extremely important for Shah Rukh Khan because he has been truly King Khan for so many years, but since Chennai Express and Happy New Year, I am sure he is looking at the kind of success he truly deserves,” said Tuteja.
“He has set such high standards for himself. The good thing is the audience still loves him. They haven’t yet said no to him. And it is not just the numbers (box office collection). The film has to be loved, his performance has to be loved,” he added.
Apart from mediocre scripts that is impacting his career, according to trade experts; big investments are also a matter of concern. Shah Rukh had put in a lot of money for 2011 release Ra.One and Zero too is an expensive film. Produced by Colour Yellow Productions (founded by Aanand L Rai) and Red Chillies Entertainment (founded by Shah Rukh Khan and wife Gauri), Zero has been made at a budget of Rs 200 crore.
Tuteja also points out that in the last couple of years, Shah Rukh Khan has not been doing formula films. “As a matter of fact, Shah Rukh Khan is breaking the formula. I guess his last formula film was Happy New Year. It may have been critically crashed, but it still got Rs 200-crore plus. But after that he has been doing different kind of films. Fan wasn’t a hardcore commercial film. Dear Zindagi was a very non-SRK movie and it worked; Jab Harry met Sejal was also an experiment. He has continued to experiment. SRK has never been rejected, it is his films that have been rejected.”
“Zero again is an experiment. So, Zero also is not a safe film. Aanand L Rai is the director, so people are thinking it must be a quality film. If there would have been a newcomer as a director, people would have been skeptical of Zero too. SRK is trying to do something different,” he further said.
At a time when Aamir’s Dangal broke records in the overseas market, especially in China where the movie was a roaring success, Salman Khan has moved mountains with films like Sultan and Bajrangi Bhaijaan, and Akshay Kumar has raced ahead with an average of two-three movies a year, King Khan needs a blockbuster to fight off the competition.
“He is Shah Rukh Khan so we definitely need him to deliver big. So, if Zero doesn’t work or the Rakesh Sharma film (biopic) doesn’t work, then it is bad for him because then it means he will not be in the huge superstar zone. It will actually mean that people have started losing interest,” said Tuteja.
This year, Shah Rukh Khan was out of top 10 rank in the Forbes’ India highest earning celebrity list. With no release during the period under review, Khan slipped from his number two position to No 13 after raking in Rs 56 crore this year.
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