Shah Rukh Khan starrer ‘Fan’, which was recently released, had great expectations at the box office. Alas, the film has failed to live up to those expectations and also didn’t receive great reviews from critics, except from the acting performance of Shah Rukh Khan as ‘Gaurav’. Any Khan-starrer’s expectations are minimum 200 crores (INR 2 billion) net collections at the box office in India.
Salman Khan ‘Jai Ho’ had crossed 100 crores (INR 1 billion) at the box office in India but was still considered a failure because it didn’t match the expected trade figures. These days trade pundits are expecting 100 crores (INR 1 billion) plus collections from movies of Ranbir Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Ranveer Singh and Siddharth Malhotra, so the expectations from the heavy-weight Khans, will be obviously greater. The stars can’t run away from the mathematics of box office collections. The latest figures show that it is struggling in the domestic market (Nett 80.25 crores – INR 802.5 million) while it has grossed over 61.35 crores (INR 613.5 million) in the overseas market. There are doubts that it will cross the barrier of 100 crores (INR 100 billion) net collections in India. The last few movies of Shah Rukh Khan have not received great reviews from critics and also box office wise, he has been below his rivals Salman Khan and Aamir Khan in India.
The magic and charm of Shah Rukh Khan is slowly waning. The age is clearly showing on his face and he should now consider roles accordingly. Even megastar Amitabh Bachchan had to go through this bitter truth of life. The younger actors will get more limelight and the older stars need to look forward to more mature roles. They should be playing some interesting characters.
Filmmaker Maneesh Sharma should take lot of blame for the failure of ‘Fan’ at the box office. The story was half-baked and there were no interesting characters in the film, apart from Shah Rukh Khan as ‘Gaurav’. The screenplay was poor and the climax of the movie was disappointing. The only reason the movie is earning at the ticket window is because of the presence of Shah Rukh Khan, otherwise this film would have been a complete dud. A heroine and good music in ‘Fan’ was greatly missed and contributed to its downfall. The script could easily have accommodated two or three songs, despite it being a thriller. The character of fan ‘Gaurav’ was the strength of the film. The audience wants to see Shah Rukh Khan in Aditya Chopra and Karan Johar’s movies, where there is magic working with him.
Big stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan need to be very careful signing any films and working with any filmmaker because the audience come to theatres, believing in entertainment. They are not bothered who the filmmaker or producer of the film is. It is a Shah Rukh Khan or Salman Khan flick for them. Simple as that. ‘Fan’ is a massive disappointment at the box office and expectations from his next movies will continue to be very high, nevertheless.
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