Hi Salman,
In a recent interview, you said that LONDON DREAMS could have worked if it were shorter, and that you had asked Vipul Shah to trim it by 20-25 mins, but he didnt and thats the reason the movie failed. Same goes for YUVVRAAJ. My 2 paise on this:
a. I think you should have put your foot down in both the cases to have your way. Who better than yourself to understand what works at the BO and what doesnt. But you let them have their way and the movies failed all of us.
Your friend Mr. Aamir Khan puts his foot down, to the extent that co-stars / producers / directors are changed to ensure a perfect product. Dont you think its high time we ensured real good products in view of the real tough competition around? They might say Salman is using his star power and the likes, but trust me, loyal true die hard fans of yours would prefer seeing you in blockbusters appreciated by one and all (read 3Idiots). And in any case, anyone else saying negative about you has never deterred yor fans from your movies.
In the end, these register as flops against your name. I know you arent bothered about competition but think of your fans who have to hear critics lamenting the fact that you have 12 flops against your name in the last 4 years.
b. Mr. Aamir Khan entered into a revenue sharing arrangement for 3Idiots. SRK does the same for his movies. Only Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar are 2 big stars who go for an upfront payment. I asked this distributor friend of mine, and he said that it is because Salman himself isnt sure if the movie will work or not. Those 15-20-30 crores which are shelled out to you, I think they burden the movie no end, and even though it might open HOUSEFULL, the price fails it on most counts. Look at Akshay Kumar in 2009 and you will know what I am talking about. London Dreams too failed because of the high pricing if you ask me. Only grouse, these register as flops. What's holding you back from revenue sharing? You have like tonnes of money. Whats our take?
c. Your special apperances. Why HELLO, SAAWARIYA, SAAWAN, BAABUL, SALAAM E ISHQ, MAIN AURR MRS KHANNA? All flops / disasters. Why do you have to resurrect others' careers while jeopardising your own. If the special appearances are good roles, noone minds; a la BAGHBAAN, PHIR MILENGE, HEROES.. but otherwise, the paying public / your fans / the media are all brutal. Noone knows if your next movie really stars you or not :((((( so it seldom opens 100%
d. Your infatuation with certain actors / music directors: I think WANTED had good music. MAMK was better, VEER is real good. But Sajid Wajid still dont command the type of publicity / hype a Rahman or Pritam does. Its the entire product which works, gets the hype for the movie.. and big established names always work, atleast RAHMAN does. Look at LOVE AAJ KAL and why it worked and you will know. Get ATIF ASLAM singing in your movie, why not???
e. PROMOTION: Why, why is overseas so so so neglected? Standees not put up in time, music not bombarded at the right channels, promos not aired frequently. You know more than us, especially like you said in the radio city interview its the publicity which matters more these days. 3I has clocked close to 6 mn USD in the states alone, thats a lot of money. I remember PARTNER as the last movie of yours which did roaring business abroad.
f. Your Interviews. Peoplelove you for your interviews. But the next time a reporter asks you about Katrina Kaif or SRK, pls give him one tight slap. Talk about your movies sire. Play to the media, in todays times, they make or break a movie if not a human being.
g. Your movies. I think 2009 was perfect with a really good blend of different roles / movies. There were a lot of reasons they didnt work. 2008 was terrible, I dont know, we just didnt choose the right scripts; YUVVRAAJ for heavens sakes, what was happening in that movie, people were leaving mid way. You let go of CHAK DE, for whatever reason.
h. RELEASE DATES: ask any layman, and he wud hav told you BACHNA AE HASEENO would win hands down in its clash with GOD TUSS GREAT HO. Ranbir is nowhere compared to you, but its the films which count unless we reach AAMIR's status when its only he people are bothered about (read 3I). You are big enough to avoid these meaningless ego clashes (read DON vs JAANEMANN). Its plain simple, you dont become a bigger star if your movie opens big in a clash, some movies just get better hyped, thats it. AAP KA SUROOR opened better than APNE, so does that make mr. reshamiyya a bigger star than the deols??
i. Directors: How about approaching a RAJU HIRANI, VISHAL BHARADWAJ, ADITYA CHOPRA, ANURAG KASHYAP, BALKI to direct you in a movie. Maybe you are too big to approach them, but just think about the hype and the product you guys can offer to the public. and you in a lot of memorable DIFFERENT roles.
In the end, everyone knows SALMAN is SALMAN KHAN. But your fans are disappointed with each wrong step who have loved you for 20 yrs, right from the time you made your debut. The Khan troika is a 1 man army with aamir right now. Lets hope VEER sets the record straight, lets get salman to the top again.
you got billions of fans, maybe the max in india.. the issue is only to get the non fans into theatres with good quality products a la aamir.. pls work towards this.. ensure a good prod from start to finish.. be involved with every aspect.. manage your brand well.. only one man does this in the industry, aamir khan.. we all know wat 3I is doing at the BO..
CHAO..
