As Sikandar gets ready for release, trade experts hail Salman Khan’s SUPERSTARDOM: “He has been a MAJOR contributor to the business in mass pockets over decades. That’s why he managed to build a strong following”

The excitement for Sikandar is sky high and trade experts feel that a major reason for it is the presence of superstar Salman Khan.

Trade veteran Taran Adarsh said, “I genuinely hope that with Sikandar, Salman hits the ball out of the park. He has been a major contributor to the business in mass pockets over decades. That’s why he managed to build a strong following. Such following is rare; his films may or may not work and yet people say, ‘Yeh hamara bhai hai’! They are ready to fight for him.”

Vishek Chauhan, owner of Roopbani Cinema in Purnia, Bihar, opined, “Some people have complained that trailer dekh ke mazaa nahin aaya. But we need to understand that brand Salman Khan wasn’t built on extraordinary cinema. Brand Salman Khan was built only on Sikandar kind of cinema. He’s the only star in Bollywood jahan film bahana hota hai usko dekhne ke liye! The film is an excuse to watch Salman Khan. In other words, producers spend Rs. 150-200 crores to make an excuse of a film in which Salman Khan will do everything that his fans expect and want him to do.”

He added, “Sikandar fits the bill perfectly in this regard; it ticks all boxes. After a long time, poora Salman Khan mil raha hai fans ko. It has a great heroine and also solid action, dialogues, humour and songs. The tonality of the character is also quite commercial. In certain films, he tried to go more elitist but here’s it's (not). Now, it all depends on how good or bad A R Murugadoss has made the film. If it’s entertaining and lands a solid punch in the end, I feel it can do some great numbers at the box office.”

Trade veteran Taran Adarsh slammed certain Bollywood personalities saying, “Aap Bollywood film bana rahe hai, Hollywood nahin. Today, Pushpa 2 worked big time for a reason. There are certain actors who consider themselves Turram Khan. They fail to realize that the desi audience loves desi films. But we are not giving them such cinema. Instead, they are busy targeting metros. That’s where films like Sikandar and Jaat come in.”

Distributor and exhibitor Raj Bansal also felt that a certain negativity against Salman Khan is uncalled for. He said, “Someone asked me a few days back, ‘Was Salman Khan’s last release Tiger 3 an average film or a flop?’. I was stunned. I replied, ‘It did a business of Rs. 270 crores plus. How was it then a flop?’. He replied, ‘But aren’t his films made on a costly budget?’. I reasoned, ‘How can you say that? Uski films thodi mehengi ho sakti hai, by Rs. 15-20 crores, as there's a lot of action. But the budget of his film is in the same range as that of Shah Rukh Khan and other stars.”

He continued, “I don’t understand; if Salman Khan’s films collect Rs. 270 crores, then it’s a flop for some but if movies of others earn Rs. 150 crores, those films are considered super-hits by them!”

Raj Bansal further said, “Some have issues that he takes a huge amount of money as acting fees. But is the only one to do so? Don’t Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar also do the same? The more successful an actor is, the more will be his fees.”

While Salman Khan’s star power has put the film in a safe zone, the music has been the sore point of Sikandar. Taran Adarsh said, “People are listening to the soundtrack but this film needed that one hit song. Last year, whenever I used to open Instagram, I used to see Tamannaah Bhatia’s clip from Stree 2 song ‘Aaj Ki Raat’ or someone dancing to it. The same happened for the songs of Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya as well. I don’t see that kind of craze here. Nevertheless, I hope that the music takes off after the film’s release, especially when viewers see the song in the context of the story.”

Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Salman Khan’s Sikandar faces CBFC scissor – ‘Home Minister’ reference scrapped, political hoarding visuals blurred

from Featured Movie News | Featured Bollywood News - Bollywood Hungama
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