Discussion Board: Does Shah Rukh Khan need a change of strategy?
November 24th, 2012 by Manjusha Patil
As
Jab Tak Hai Jaan looks to somehow trundle past 100 crores at the
domestic box office, one wonders what's wrong with Shah Rukh Khan.His
film is struggling to get past 100 crores which is not even a milestone
any more. With constantly increasing number of screens and ticket
prices, every big film is likely to achieve that. While the films of
Shah Rukh's rivals are creating new and newer records and earning
audience's love, his films seem to be failing on both counts. The only
solace being the overseas earnings which are mostly due to a wider
release as compared to other films. But being happy with overseas
numbers without making any impact on the audiences back home is quite
meaningless as far as somebody's impact as a star is concerned. Overseas
collection is just numbers. It is the collective earnings from various
places put together. It indicates that money has come but that doesn't
mean that the film has made any noteworthy impact at any particular
place.
Shah Rukh Khan
Contrary to the popular belief
and the faith of his fans, SRK has not been 'ruling the industry for 20
years' etc. His career has been full of ups and downs like that of any
other star. For one or two hit films, there have been an equal number or
more of flop films. The number of flops was more in the first decade of
his career and the second decade kind of reversed the ratio. But the
failures did keep coming. Only difference being this time they were not
at all being recognized by him or by the media. Propagating of the
'king' myth was kind of coming in the way of honest analysis of things
and accepting the basic fact that you win some, you lose some. It's part
of the game.
Shah Rukh's overall career tally of hits and misses stands something like this –TOTAL RELEASES: 51
Super Hit/Blockbuster 17
Hit 6
Average 8
Flop 20
Overseas Hit from above 42 21
Note:
Hits include My Name Is Khan, Ra.One and Don 2 on the basis of their
overall collection and Flops don't include his guest appearances. All
flops have Shah Rukh as a lead or as an important character in a
multi-starrer. There can be a disagreement on one or two films but more
or less this is the picture.
Let's just glance through Shah
Rukh's career without dwelling much on the inconsequential films and
considering only the major films.
Shah Rukh made a transition
from TV to films in 1990 through Dil Aashna Hai. This film did not make
any splash but Deewana released in the same year did. Shah Rukh had a
supporting role in the film. His acting in Deewana was artificial and
theatrical but his passion and enthusiasm was palpable. He was noticed
and even liked in this musical hit. In 1992, his then Godfather Aziz
Mirza cast him in Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman. It was a reprised version of
Raj Kapoor's Shree 420. Though this film was not a major success, Shah
Rukh managed to steal some hearts. Maya Memsaab released in the same
year was a total washout. Shah Rukh was being recognized and liked but
he was far from being a star.
The Mixed Bag (1990-2001)The
major breakthrough came in 1993 with Yash Chopra's Darr. This Hollywood
inspired story of an obsessive lover and his scary ways of following
the object of his obsession was lapped up by the audience. Super hit
music and Yash Chopra's deft direction made this film the biggest
blockbuster of the year. Shah Rukh's obsessive ways in the film and the
K-K-K-K Kiran stammer amused the audience to no end and the young actor
got a lot of appreciation.
This was followed by Bazigar where he
once again played a character with negative shades. This film too was
inspired by Hollywood. Shah Rukh really shone in Bazigar as the
deceptive, cold blooded murderer seeking revenge. Darr and Bazigar made
Shah Rukh stand out in comparison to his more popular contemporaries
with chocolate boy looks. But his later attempts at similar roles in
Anjam and Raam Jaane didn't prove to be that successful. Anjaam released
in 1994 was a flop. Kabhi Haa, Kabhi Na, released in the same year, did
garner some attention but even this film was not a big success.
Shah
Rukh's next big hit came in 1995 in the form of Karan-Arjun alongside
Salman Khan. This reincarnation saga with all the requisite masala
thrown in was a bumper hit of the year. This was followed by watershed
Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge. A film that won universal appreciation
and became an all-time blockbuster. Shah Rukh had surely arrived and
also seemed to have found his groove. He became a star now. But that
wasn't the guarantee of further success. In 1996, he came up with two
ordinary films English Babu, Desi Mem and Chahat. Both obviously flopped
badly. 1997 brought a big hit for Shah Rukh in the form of Pardes
though it was not entirely his film. After that once again there were
not do successful films like Yes Boss and unsuccessful Koyla. But he
ended 1997 with a bang with super hit Dil Toh Pagal Hai.
This
super hit film was once again followed by flop Duplicate and much talked
about but unsuccessful Dil Se. But Karan Johar's Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
didn't let 1998 be a totally disappointing year for Shah Rukh. This
breezy and emotional romance proved to be an all time blockbuster film.
It was followed by Badshah released in 1999 which didn't do a great
business and was an average fare. It was followed by unsuccessful Phir
Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani and moderately successful Josh in 2000. Once
again it was Yash Chopra banner for rescue and Mohabbatein released in
the same year was a super duper hit.
The Golden Phase (2001-2008)The
year 2001 started with flop Ashoka but it was followed by blockbuster
Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham. 2001 onwards till 2008 Shah Rukh has an
enviable success record. With an exception of just two unsuccessful
films, he has churned out hit after hit during this period. His record
in this period is as follows – 2002 – Devdas (Hit), 2003 – Chalte Chalte
(Hit), Kal Ho Na Ho (Hit), 2004 – Main Hoon Na (Hit), Veer Zaara (Super
hit), Swades (Flop), 2005 –Paheli (Flop), 2006 – Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna
(Hit), Don (Hit), 2007 – Chak De! India (Super hit), Om Shanti Om
(Blockbuster), 2008 – Rab ne bana di jodi (Blockbuster). These eight
years can be termed as a truly golden phase in Shah Rukh's career.
Things
started going wrong in 2010 with My Name is Khan. This film is
considered a hit on the strength of its overseas collections but the
fact is that it totally failed to impress the audience back home. His
subsequent releases Ra.One and Don 2 met with the similar fate and Jab
Tak Hai Jaan is probably the weakest performer of Shah Rukh's films in
recent times.
Formula Failure? The
main reason for this could be making films with an eye on the overseas
market. After DDLJ, a trend to please NRI audiences started. Therefore
the stories were related to people living in foreign countries or
returning from these countries. Sometimes, the drama happened in India
as well as some foreign country while at times the story was entirely
set in the foreign country. Most of the shoot was carried out on foreign
locales. This not only changed the look of the film but also the
substance of the film. After a while, not only Indians living abroad but
even the foreign audience started reacting very positively to these
films as they looked like their own films but had all the Bollywood
ingredients of song & dance, emotion & drama and colorful
spectacles. The formula worked big time. It brought in collections in
foreign currency and also gave Shah Rukh some recognition in these
countries.
MNIK, Ra.One and Don2 all were clearly aimed at
capitalizing on this and taking a further leap as far as international
recognition is concerned. It was evident in the story and treatment of
MNIK that it was aimed at making a splash internationally. Ra.One also
seemed to have been made with a dream of making it a popular franchise
like Superman and Spiderman. Don 2 was a Hollywood style action-thriller
totally devoid of emotions that Indian audience cannot do without.
The reason for Indian audience's rejecting these films was plain and simple – they were not made for them.
What could be the strategy change?
Make films with Indian audience in mind
So,
the first strategy change for Shah Rukh would be to start making films
for the Indian audience but make it of such a quality that it would also
appeal to the international audience.
Change of tracks
Just a
fleeting look through Shah Rukh's career and three things stand out.
ONE- that he has been most successful in romantic or emotional dramas,
TWO,- almost all of his huge successes have come from Yash Chopra or
Karan Johar and THREE whenever he has tried to experiment, he has
failed.
Stories high on emotion and romance, high production
values turning the film into a grand spectacle, super hit music, first
rate technicians, popular co-stars seems to be the formula.
The
strangest thing about his latest film is that it is made by Yash Chopra,
it is a romantic and emotional drama and he is playing the kind of role
he is most liked in and yet the formula seems to have failed this time.
Today,
the main problem with him doing romantic films is his age. These roles
don't suit him anymore as age has started showing on his face. Floppy
hair notwithstanding, he doesn't look 25 or 30 anymore. And Indian
audience is definitely not ready for mature love stories. So, he needs
to look for a total change of track.
Shah Rukh Khan
So,
the strategy change for him would be to go beyond romance and give a
try to a totally new genre. He has a good sense of comedy and has a good
comic timing. Comedy is a genre that is always in demand. So, he should
give it a try. Also family dramas high on emotions would work well for
him. He can also look to play strong characters in interesting stories
that do not necessarily fit into any genre.
No Action films
Shah
Rukh should stop being too competitive and doing everything that others
are doing. He has his strengths and weaknesses. He should play to his
strengths. He should avoid doing action films just because others are
doing it. Action is the genre that doesn't suit him no matter how hard
he tries. So, an out and out action film should be avoided.
Being Adventurous
Shahrukh
should stop believing in the 'king' humbug and should start taking
risks in the sense he shouldn't look to make films only for potential
record collections and accolades. He did negative roles in the beginning
of his career but that wasn't taking risks. He was a newcomer. He had
no set image and he had nothing to lose. He should get into that mode
once again. For the past few years he has been looking to do films that
are grand enough for his carefully crafted 'king' image and has ended up
doing dazzling but soulless productions.
The other two Khans of
the Khan trio don't take their superstardom too seriously. All through
their respective careers, they have taken risks of working with
newcomers or unknown or failed people. They also go for scripts that
don't look like winners right away. Shah Rukh should also look to work
for the fun and excitement of it rather than doing films to impress or
clinging on to an image and trying to prove that he is No.1.
Work over Image Building
That
brings us to the huge image building exercise that is relentlessly
being carried on for and by Shah Rukh. It may be necessary but it has
been proved that it doesn't work beyond a point. So, next strategy
change would be, to concentrate more on work rather than on image
building. After all he is a film star. People connect with him through
his films. If films fail to connect, all other image building exercises
are not going to make much difference. So, he should just relax, try to
have fun, make good films and let the image building take a back seat.
These
are the broad and immediate strategy changes for Shah Rukh that one can
think of. It's not that Shah Rukh is waiting for tips and advice from
people but he can surely do with some feedback from his fans and also
from 'non-fans'. And no matter whether he takes note of this or not, we
will surely have fun discussing it. So, what do you think?
🤣
