In an unprecedented set of events, Fan a Bollywood film with superstar Shah Rukh Khan has been done, dusted and left far behind by the Hollywood family adventure The Jungle Book .
Some speculate that Fan ’s box-office earnings are the reason that the star’s upcoming Raees has been delayed. Ritesh Sidhwani, founder of Excel Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, says it was not an easy decision to reschedule the film’s release. He says, “We understand that Raees is highly anticipated. However, a film of such magnitude requires appropriate showcasing and we have decided to shift our release date to January 26, 2017.”
In its third week, Fan has managed to snag a tepid Rs. 85 crore. On the other hand, the Rudyard Kipling adaptation has amassed a whopping Rs. 164 crore in its four-week run. Unfortunately, even the seven-day difference between the two can hardly make a dent in the wide earnings’ gap. However, experts like trade analyst Shailesh Kapoor, who helms Ormax Media, a media firm specialising in trade insights, thinks the English film’s success had little to do with Fan ’s failure. “If both films find their audience, they can both co-exist.”
But did Fan find an audience? Apparently not. There are several, often disparate opinions as to why the film didn’t do well. With little in film music, no romantic arc and a dark story, the Shah Rukh-starrer has been markedly different from the superstar’s previous efforts. Perhaps, his fans haven’t been able to resonate with Fan . “People wondered why he was behaving idiotically,” says Komal Nahta, trade analyst, and editor and publisher of Film Information and host of Etc Bollywood Business, alluding to Shah Rukh’s superstar character in the film. “It was a wrong second half. For millions of fans, actors are like demigods. You can’t see them faulting so badly. Fans then felt alienated from the superstar.”
Alternatively, other views include questioning the Fan marketing strategy. “They promoted Fan like a commercial film with ‘ Jabra Fan ’ as the film’s anthem,” says Amul Mohan, trade expert and Editor-in-chief of Super Cinema. Since the film hasn’t done very well, “now they’re saying it was a smaller experimental film. I’m not buying into it,” he says. Comparisons have been drawn to Talaash , Aamir Khan’s 2012 thriller that released during the peak of the star’s popularity after Rang De Basanti (2006), Taare Zameen Par (2007) and 3 Idiots (2009). The supernatural film didn’t do too well, barely collecting Rs. 90 crores. But unlike Fan , Talaash was always marketed differently; never leading fans to believe that they’ve got a commercial blockbuster to look forward to. Fan showed “the world what Bollywood is while purposely neglecting what Bollywood stands for,” says Mohan reiterating the absence of music in Fan . “This is the movie business; if it’s a big hero, you need to justify that thought process.”
However, all said and done, Fan ’s poor box-office earnings hugely contradict current cinema trends. “We expect different cinema and then we reject the film for exactly that,” says Kapoor, citing previous films without a romantic arc such as Taare Zameen Par and Chak De India, which have been incredibly successful in breaking the formula. But he does agree that, “at a point, audiences could not root for the characters [in Fan ]; connect with the film or the story.”
Ergo, moving the Raees release date has been a wise decision according to Mohan, as competing against Salman Khan’s Sultan would be like “a suicide bomb attack”. Raees will see the superstar play yet another unlikely protagonist as a bootlegger in 1980s Gujarat. “In his last three to four films, [ Happy New Year , Chennai Express and even Dilwale ] Shah Rukh hasn’t been able to take his stardom to another level,” says Kapoor, acknowledging that Fan has been some sort of an attempt at reinvention for the actor. This includes Shah Rukh Khan trying his hand and luck with a different set of directors, like Gauri Shinde’s next project for example. “This is his way of innovating; it’s a positive sign,” says Kapoor.
The three Khans
But even a dozen flops in a row cannot overturn a superstar’s success. Take Salman Khan for instance, who is the reigning Khan at the moment with consecutive blockbusters. Kapoor says Salman Khan is on a dream run. Before 2010’s Wanted , the actor delivered a spate of flops like Salaam-e-Ishq and Yuvraaj that failed at the box-office. “SRK needs to select his films wisely and he will do so,” says Nahta. “But whoever writes him off is a fool.” Completing the Khan trinity is Aamir who’s got a very niche following, especially since he’s the slowest when it comes to churning out films. “He’s been losing popularity for the past few years. Controversies can impact that,” says Kapoor. But there seems to be no threat to the three Khans as “there’s nobody in the younger line challenging the top three,” says Kapoor.
All a superstar needs is just one hit film to completely bounce back at the box-office and with their sometimes-fickle fans.
Some say Fan ’s poor box-office earnings has led
to SRK’s Raees being delayed
