Salman Khan – a name that Bollywood will remember forever. You may love him or hate him, but you can’t ignore him. He is a superstar on all fronts, and his fans adore him. Despite all the flops he had, all the controversies he went through, he is still amongst the top actors in Bollywood. I can honestly say that HE is definitely India’s Most Powerful Star and a Godfather.
1) Launching the careers of many stars
He has helped many stars to achieve what they are today. Himesh Reshammiya, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Sajid-Wajid were brought into the industry thanks to Salman Khan’s help. Even Hrithik Roshan went through training through our Sallu.
2) Helped Govinda at the time of crisis
Govinda was practically forgotten in our industry, and was written off by the critics and media. However, our Sallu came and saved the day by giving him a hero lead in ‘Partner’. Although he had a role in ‘Bhagam Bhag’, Govinda was wasted in the film, and with ‘Salaam-E-Ishq’, he got appreciated for his role, but this time it flopped at the Box-Office. However, with the big success of ‘Partner’, Govinda got both a huge HIT and also the critics/audience appreciation. Now, Govinda is back in the running. It has also been written that Salman Khan gave Govinda a Mercedez-Benz car when Govinda refused fees from him.
3) His foundation ‘Being Human’
He is the probably one of the only star to start his own foundation for the kids and the poor. And look what he did – he knows that kids with some sickness or illness won’t go to watch a movie. Prior to the release of ‘Partner’, he had a special screening for the kids! Plus, every kid walked out with a special gift in their hands after the event! Wow, our Salman is truly great!
4) Always helping the needy
This man will always have a golden heart, despite the bad times he has been through. He gives bicycles to the kids, always gives money to the needy and even blankets to people who sleeps on the street at night. He always helps a certain foundation or an association, and the best part about it is that he does it privately and doesn’t involve the media into it. He is probably one of the few Bollywood actors today who does help a lot.
5) Stars turn to Salman Khan for help
This is another topic that makes Salman Khan a winner. Many celebrities have turn to him for help, e.g. when Sushmita Sen adopted daughter fell ill, no one was there to help her, and then she called Salman Khan. And within a couple of minutes, he showed up at her doorstep. When Dia Mirza mom fell ill, it was our Sallu who made the rescue. Saawan Kumar Tak came to Salman Khan – who thought he needed money. However, Saawan Kumar asked him to play a part in ‘Saawan’, which Salman Khan did for FREE. When no one was willing to play supporting role to ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’, it was Salman Khan who ended up doing it for Karan Johar. These are many examples why this man rocks!
6) Despite controversy, he still remains a top star at the BO!
I consider Salman Khan the most powerful star at the Box-Office because of this topic. Despite all the bad stuff he has done, he still remains a top star at the Box-Office – if that’s not power, then what is it then? Take for example, ‘Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya’ release at the Box-Office. Two days before its release, the tape controversy happened in India. And Salman Khan was accused, as they assumed it was his voice on the tape. Shows were cancelled, however, ‘Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya’ was recording 90%+ opening at the Box-Office. On top of that, Salman Khan was the only bankable star in the film. The movie according to the trade, was a Semi-Hit. Had that controversy didn’t happen, it would’ve done Hit business. That clearly shows you that our Sallu is probably the most powerful star at the Box-Office.
7) Despite what he goes through, his fans are still with him till the end
Now, you tell me, only few actors are blessed with this. Look at what Salman Khan has been through in life and all the bad stuff he has done – yet his fans are there for him through thick and thin. When he was in jail, people prayed for him, fasted for him, gave food to him in jail, they also tried to visit him in jail! This man is a rockstar in India. And the day he was released, there was a huge celebration at his house; likely over 1000 people were there. After all he has been through, fans are supposed to hate Salman Khan, yet they love him more and his fan base did increase. Well, Salman and Shah Rukh may both have the biggest fan base following in India, but Salman Khan has the most loyal fans in India. That’s why, as fans, we voted Salman Khan to be in the Madame Tussauds and deservingly, he won the poll beating the likes of Kajol, Madhuri Dixit, and Hrithik Roshan.
8) One of the only stars to give a great opening on an All-India Basis
Salman Khan, along with Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Akshay Kumar are the only stars to guarantee huge opening at the Box-Office. Despite flops he has encountered, his films still takes great opening from all parts of India! Where SRK and Aamir Khan rules A centres, Salman Khan is one of the few stars to guarantee a huge opening not only in the A centres, but in the B and C centres also. He is the hero of the masses!
9) More All-Time Blockbusters than any other star in Bollywood and other BO records
Despite being the huge stars in the likes of Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra, and Shah Rukh Khan, our Salman Khan still have more All-Time Blockbusters than any other stars in Bollywood history e.g. ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’, ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun’ and ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’. The closest star to beat him is Shah Rukh Khan with two All-Time Blockbusters. Also, Salman Khan is one of the few stars to have other records at the Box-Office.
He is one of the few stars to have:
– Four or more releases in one year (1998), and were all HITS – ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hain’, ‘Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya’, ‘Bandhan’, ‘Jab Pyar Kisse Se Hota Hain’
– Top Grossers In One Year (1999) – ‘Biwi No.1’, ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’, ‘Hum Saath-Saath Hain’
– Most Hits than any other actor in the 90s
In 1994, ‘Hum Aapke Hain Kaun’ smashed ‘Sholay’ records Gross to become the biggest grosser film at that time and did excellent business in the overseas for a Bollywood film. It was the first film to do over Rs. 10 crores in the overseas market.
Maine Pyar Kiya broke records not only in India, but also in overseas market.
10) His Don’t Give a Damn Attitude
This is one aspect that sets Salman Khan different from other stars in Bollywood – his attitude! Although you expect Salman Khan to grow up a bit, but the man doesn’t care! If the people who are interviewing him give him a dumb question, he will ask them back the same question. People who has done something to hurt our Sallu, he would ignore them. Despite critics are bashing him to do something different in his movie, he still doesn’t care. Sometimes his one-liners from interviews are too funny, but you would expect that from Salman Khan.
11) One of the few actors to make it on People’s Magazine
That’s right, our Sallu had made it in People’s Magazine for being one of the most handsome man ever in the world. Only three actors in Bollywood have achieved that; Dharmendra, Salman Khan and Hrithik Roshan. And to be honest, those are the three most handsome men ever in Bollywood history. Another news that made Bollywood and India proud.
12) Screw acting, its all about screen presence
Salman Khan is one actor we know who can sleepwalk through his role. But what stands out when watching a Salman Khan film is his screen presence. Once he enters the screen, you can’t help but notice Salman Khan all the time. He is one of the few actors in India and overseas when they appear the first time on screen, the crowds go wild and cheer for him. Out of all the stars making special appearances in ‘Om Shanti Om’, Salman Khan got the most cheers. It must be noted that when Salman puts his mind to a role, he will do a great job e.g. ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’, ‘Hum Aapke Hain Kaun’, ‘Andaz Apna Apna’, ‘Karan Arjun’, ‘Tere Naam’ and ‘Kyon Ki’.
13) Screw Awards
Salman Khan is one actor who doesn’t care about an award. In fact, we know in the future Salman Khan will never win a Best Actor Award. He can play the hardest role to perfection in cinema history, but yet, he will never win the award. Well, Salman Khan is one actor to prove you don’t need an award to prove yourself. Salman Khan has said one thing, “He cares more about rewards, than awards”. Well said, Sallu!
14) Style Icon to the youth Generation
Anything looks good on Salman Khan, that’s why it reflects on the youth generation. Imagine, a hair style in ‘Tere Naam’ becoming a huge rage in India. Well, that’s how our Sallu influence the youth generation. His look even in ‘Mujhse Shaadi Karogi’ was a hit amongst the youngsters. In fact, most youths and elders want to have a body like Salman Khan. Salman Khan has definitely made an impact to the people of India. He is one actor who actually redefines ‘cool’.
15) Style Icon to the Bollywood industry
Most recent stars are influenced by Salman Khan physique. Look at SRK so called “6-pack abs”, it’s not shocking that Salman Khan inspired him to get that. In fact, SRK asked Salman for tips. Plus, Ranbir Kapoor and Hrithik Roshan were under his training to get a great body. He also influenced Govinda and Anil Kapoor to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
16) Amongst the top ten ever
To be honest, if one were to conduct an article on the ten most memorable actors to ever grace Bollywood, Salman Khan would have to make it to the list (others being Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Rajendra Kumar, Jeetendra, Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan). Nothing and I mean nothing affects this guy status or his fans. Salman Khan is a legend in the making, whether you like him or not.
17) Unique style of dancing
One knows that the best dancers today in Bollywood are Govinda and Hrithik Roshan for actors. But what sets Salman Khan different (even Shah Rukh Khan) is that whatever moves he does, it looks good. Points in case include ‘No Entry’ title track, Just Chill (Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya), O Jaana (Tere Naam), Oo Oh Jaane Jaana (PKTDK), You’re My Love (Partner), Tenu Leke (Salaam-E-Ishq), and many more to back up this statement.
18) Flops, Disasters don’t affect Salman Khan Status
Ask the distributors – they don’t affect Salman Khan. In fact, it strengths him, and that’s what scores with Salman Khan. Despite giving six straight flops, he is still in the Top 5 according to the trade and that’s remarkable. Yes, it made him drop, but the huge success of ‘Partner’ has put him back in the running. Plus, it has been written that he got a Rs.24 crore film deal. Imagine, if Salman Khan was that bad, would he get that kind of huge offer?
19) No Sad Endings, Please!
History has it that whenever Salman Khan dies in a film, it’s a flop at the Box-Office. ‘Veergati’, ‘Hello Brother’, ‘Phir Milenge’, ‘Kyon Ki’, ‘Baabul’ are examples to prove this theory. Even ‘Tere Naam’ which took a huge opening at the BO settled for Above Average – Semi-Hit status because of the huge drop in the second week. That is due to the second half of the film where Salman Khan was treated badly in the film. It seems Salman Khan fans don’t want to see their hero in that state. What’s funny is that SRK, Amitabh Bachchan and Dilip Kumar can die in their movies, yet they can be HITS. However, if Salman Khan dies in his films, they don’t succeed. I guess we want to see Salman Khan have a happy ending.
20) Trends that were started by Salman Khan
Despite SRK being the ruler of the overseas market, it’s in fact Salman Khan films which opened Bollywood films to the overseas market. Yes, Amitabh Bachchan films in the 70s and 80s films succeeded in the West Indies, North American and UK territory, but it was ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ that made the huge impact. It broke records everywhere especially in the West Indies. It was dubbed in English ‘As When Love Calls’ and in Spanish as ‘Te Amo’. ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ was Rs.1 crore short of beating ‘Sholay’ record Gross. Then came ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun’ that smashed records everywhere. HAHK was the first film to gross over Rs.50 crores, and settled for a Rs.65 crores run at the BO. Plus, it was the first film to gross over a $1,000,000 in the US market, and over 1,000,000 Pounds in the UK market. Since then, Bollywood has made a huge impact in the overseas market. If trade reports are to be believed, it was Salman Khan who started the bumper opening trend. That’s why back in the 90s, most of his films were HITS at the BO because they had took huge opening at the BO (he did it on a consistent basis). Even his flop films were nearly recoverable thanks to the good opening it received.
21) Good Music is a Must in his films!
If one were to look at Salman Khan filmography, about 70% of his films has good soundtracks. It seems that great music is a must for a Salman Khan starrer – even up to today. He is one actor who can make a soundtrack sell because of his loyal fans, and even people don’t like him, they are aware that a Salman Khan starrer has good songs. The soundtrack of ‘Tere Naam’, despite being released four years ago, still sells to this day.
22) No One Gives an Interview like Salman Khan
One always knows when Salman Khan is on the mike, it will be memorable. As mentioned above, if the people who are interviewing him give him a dumb question, he will ask them back the same question. His one-liners are amazing and he is most of the time very funny or even serious, one can’t tell. Look at the ‘Saawariya’ music launch, if it wasn’t for Salman Khan, the music launch would’ve been a huge flop. Sometimes, even the interviewer gets scared when interviewing Salman Khan because he will give them his killer look. So word of advice to people who wants to interview Salman in the future – make sure you ask Salman the right questions!
23) Always Speaks From The Heart!
One characteristic that sets Salman Khan different from the other stars is that he speaks from the heart. Look at the 1999 Filmfare Awards, when he got the Best Supporting Actor, he clearly said on stage, “I don’t deserve this award”. And that takes a lot of guts to say it. Other stars, who clearly gets awards who doesn’t deserve it (cough cough, SRK), will brag how he/she is happy and this and that. He is one of the few people who clearly said that he hated ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’. He was honest as to why he didn’t take ‘Chak De India’ and ‘Baazigar’. Despite being close friends to Aamir Khan, he states why Aamir doesn’t want to work with him in the future.
24) First Commercial Bollywood Superstar to work with a Hollywood director
Despite being a Disaster at the BO, still Salman Khan is the first commercial Bollywood star to work with Hollywood director (William Carroll), and actress (Ali Larter). A huge achievement for our Sallu.
25) Anything looks good on our Sallu
Whether he is in suits, wearing some goofy T-Shirt or some ripped up jeans, one must say, it looks good on Salman Khan. In fact, anything looks good on this man. When he is on screen or at any function, one can’t help but admire Salman Khan.
26) Classics Films to be remember in the history of Bollywood in his credit
Salman Khan has a lot of classic films in Bollywood – ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’, ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun’, ‘Andaz Apna Apna’, ‘Khamoshi’, ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’, ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’, ‘Tere Naam ‘(despite being a remake), and ‘No Entry’ (it’s not one of those comedies these days where it tries to be funny- it’s actually funny and will be remembered as a comedy classic) are classics and some will be classics in the future.
27) Irrespective to what anyone says, you are still the best Sallu!
Salman Khan, no matter what the critics, media, and people say, you are still Number One to us no matter what. We have been with you since the ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ days, and we stood by you when all the controversies happened. You may not be the best actor ever, but we still enjoy watching your films. You have been a role-model to us back in the days, and up to this day. Nobody in Bollywood has done much as what you do to the needy people. You may be termed as the Bad Boy of Bollywood, but you have proved numerous times that you are still a man with the golden heart. We hope as fans, that you continue to rule Bollywood and we all hope and pray that all of your upcoming films do extremely well at the BO.
You are our future legend in Bollywood and will be remembered as amongst the top actors ever in Bollywood.
By Shamim Noorani.
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