"It's not as though an apple fell on Salman's head and he saw the light" says father and scriptwriter Salim Khan. It is Day 4 of Jai Ho and the film has just hit a Rs.100cr figure worldwide, (67crores in India, according to Box Office India) leaving the actor's reputation as being founder and president of the Rs.100cr club, intact. But only barely.
The actor himself says he is confused about the obvious discrepancy between the box office figures and the audience reactions: there is palpable whistling and 'I Love You Salman's tossed at the screen when he single handedly takes on thug after thug in the endless playing to the gallery through more than three quarters of the 150 minute film.
When tanks burst through the wall, there is a shuffling akin to a multiplex version of dancing in the aisles. Illogical as the fight scenes may be, there is euphoria that only Salman, among the Khans, can commandeer. Something has changed, but what? Has the Salman Khan formula finally failed?
The difference lies not in Jai Ho, but in the actor himself. Salman Khan has never made a socio-political statement before. He has not promoted a film the way he has promoted Jai Ho: giving multiple media time, traveling to Gujarat for the kite festival and stepping blatantly into political waters by interacting with BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. And those close to him point out, he has never been nervous about the success of a film. Nor has he, as he has famously said on various occasions, kept a tab on box office figures before.
For those asking why Tabu or a Nadira Babbar would participate in the film, the answer is clear: the film has been a deeply personal journey for the actor. Vajir Singh, editor of Box Office India points out that what clicked with him about the film, the deep personal involvement, began, not now but one and a half years ago, when Salman saw Stalin, the Telugu version of Pay It Forward.
Salim Khan says it's obvious that much of the character Jai Agnihotri is based on Salman, whose do-gooding is legend. Himself a big brother figure to most of the film industry, for the first time in his career, it is difficult to dissociate the actor from the role. Salim describes at length how for years Salman has been involved with people who live at Bandstand (in Bandra), paying hospital bills of those who couldn't afford surgeries, based on lists that NGOs who couldn't afford to pay, have given him.
"He reached a point where he thought it's not a big deal that he does it but that everyone can and should do it" Salim says, adding "He felt that everyone doesn't seem to know this pleasure of giving and he wanted to pass it on." There is much hurt and anger Salim expresses at the vilification of Salman after his accident. "An ordinary man would have paid a Rs.950 fine and be let off. Celebrities are not above the law, but we are made examples. No celebrity has ever been let off. Tanuja has spent time in jail. Rajkumar has spent time in jail. No star is given a concession" he points out.
It is a sentiment that Salman himself has expressed before: the raison d'etre behind his Bigg Boss stint, his mentorship with younger actors, is this perpetual need to reach out and spare the would be do gooders like himself the shock that the world is unfair to straightforward people.
A lot of this and much more comes to a head in Jai Ho. Singh also points out that Salman is capable of being both: the boisterous prank pulling, give-a-damn hero of Ready and Dabangg. While those close to him in the recent past, over the years when his accident case has come to trial and close to sentencing, have seen this more contemplative, serious and sometimes socially angry side of Salman, Jai Ho is in fact the first time the audience has been exposed to a serious side of the Bhai.
Salim believes it is too premature to say the message hasn't reached audiences. Even as a Facebook meme post on 'paying it forward to 5 people' begins to go mildly viral. The change that Salman wanted to make is what the family is waiting to see happen. The box office was not what they're watching.
Why he chose this point in time to reveal himself, his personal angst at a society that fails the perpetual and optimistic do gooder on screen, he won't say. But be assured that Salman, who has said he takes the blame for any failure of the film, is not talking about box office collections.
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