₹500-cr shocker for Bollywood

Shock waves ran through Bollywood on Thursday when a Jodhpur court sentenced Salman Khan to five years in jail for killing two blackbucks, which are a rare and protected antelopes.

While his Hum Saath-Saath Hain co-stars and fellow accused Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre Behl and Neelam Kothari were acquitted, the spotlight was firmly on Salman.

After all, the 52-year-old superstar is among the most bankable of Hindi cinema actors. As per trade estimates, almost ₹500 crore is riding on the actor, who can appeal the verdict in a higher court.

“It’s too early to comment, but, of course, if Salman indeed ends up going to jail, it will be a huge shock for everyone… his films are always among the biggest money-spinners, so the overall business will surely be badly affected,” trade analyst Taran Adarsh said before the court had pronounced the punishment.

The shooting for his Eid release, Race 3, is almost done and films such as Bharat and Dabangg 3 are set to go on the floors soon. Kick 2, the second installment of the 2014 blockbuster, has already been announced. His TV game show, 10 Ka Dum, is scheduled to go on air in June. His production company has also begun work on Loveratri, the debut film of his brother-in-law, Aayush Sharma. Sharma is married to Salman’s youngest sibling, Arpita Khan.

“As per my information, work on Race 3 is still going on, with some patchwork, post-production and dubbing still left,” another trade expert, Amod Mehra, said.

Large sums of money must have been spent on pre-production work for Bharat and Dabangg 3. “Plus, his TV show is all set to go on air. Put together, all of it means a huge loss,” Mehra said.

Director Anees Bazmee, who has given hits such as No Entry (2005) and Ready (2011) with the actor, said “Salman is one of the strongest pillars” of the Hindi film industry. “It goes without saying that the entire industry feels the effects of such a shock. After all, he is an iconic star. Also, Salman is a family friend and is such a nice person that everyone is concerned about his well-being,” Bazmee said.

But it is not all gloom and doom. “Thanks to all the publicity that Race 3 is getting due to the case, the biggest beneficiary is going to be that film because all the sympathy will now rest with Salman, and that emotion works very strongly with Indian audiences,” said Mehra.

“So, if the film’s opening figure was going to be ₹35 crore, it may now be ₹40 crore,” he said. Another blockbuster Eid for the actor?

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