16 years Later … In 1992, SrK delivers his first hit Deewana. following it up with Baazigar and Darr in 1993 … and Boooom! he’s a star. well who wouldn’t be. Specially in the dry 90’s when a single hit were enough to keep you afloat for a decade. Check out the careers of Saif, Akshay, Anil Kapoor etc. They’ve had lean phases of 10, 15 even 20 straight films without a single hit… or having had 5-6 years delivering series of flops one after another. So yes.. the troika of hits were enough to propel any lallu panju into stardom in those 90’s.. why not SrK? Not to mention there were a couple of other mild successes as well amongst them mentioned there.
In 1973, Amitabh delivered his first hit after a string of flops to start off his career in Bollywood. With Zanjeer he was a star. And then he was there in Khanna’s hit Namak Haraam, was there in Manoj Kumar blockbuster Roti Kapda Aur Makaan.. and actually had a couple of modest hits of himself as well in Abhimaan and Majboor. Though nothing spectacular simply because the others stars at the times were delivering hits in hoardes tis the 70’s we talking . To begin with, a certain Rishi Kapoor delivered a blockbuster in Bobby.. That Dharam guy delivered 10 hits between 72-74. And ofcourse the reigning star of the time Rajesh Khanna had slowed down but not done. And so on and so forth. This is very much different from SrK, for whom one could actually make a sincere case for having as good as a BO record as anyone else had 92-95.. or heck expand it to 90-95. But let’s leave that aside, that ain’t the purpose of this post. Let’s just say that Amitabh became as big a star in 1973.
In 1995, SrK takes hold of the top reigns of Bollywood superstardom with two blockbusters in one year in Karan Arun and DDLJ the latter being the longest running Bollywood movie. A number of reasons account for him being able to grab the numero uno position including the imprisonment of Dutt, some bad movie choices on the part of other rivals (e.g. Anil Kapoor with Roop Ki Rani.. , Sunny Deol with Darr..etc) but it was also the momentum he carried on with his earlier hits in 92-93 and then KA, DDLJ that propelled him to the that top spot. And though he kind of stumbled in 96, he widened the gap back between him and his rivals with string of hits in 97 and 98. From there on he got the better of or atleast matched upto whatever the other stars tried to throw at him. And then there was this amazing phase post-K3G in 2001 all the way to 2005, where he had all the biggest initials, almoste every movie a hit/superhit and infact delivered more hits than the rest of the industry’s top stars’ hits combined. His closest rival Hrithik had delivered one hit between 2000 and 2006. Another one Sunny delivered 6 back-to-back flops and distasters after the twin-hits in 2001. Aamir had a grand total of one clean hit between 97 and 2006. And Salman..? well. he held his own upto 99.. but lost steam thereafter and now is now very much a washed-up case. While Govinda decimated long ago. Forget about having a consistent rival, he rarely had any type of a competition unil 2006. “Only SrK and Sells” , they said.
By 1978.. Amitabh was the undisputed superstar of Bollywood. Though he had delivered a Deewar in 1975.. as well as Sholay, some, well let’s say a few, were still holding their verdict as Dharam had been piling on big hits (more than a dozen of them) through 73-77.. Jugnu, Yaadon Ki Baraat, Loafer, Pratigya, Dharam Veer, Chacha Bhatija, CC, Charas etc.. and even the biggest hit of 75 - Sholay, had Dharam in a meatier role, implying in a way as him being the main lead. Also.. Manoj Kumar was in full force delivering a monster hit in RKUM, then follwing it with Sanyasi and Dus Numbri. However the momentun carried by Deewar, strengthened by AAA, MKS, Don and Trishul not only tilted the balance in his favour but widened the gap between him and the rest big time. And through the late 70’s and early 80’s, the likes of Dharam, Vinod Khanna and Jeetendra delivered some significant hits but unable to match Bachchan’s amazing run 78-82 when the term “one-man-industry” was coined for him.
16 years later.. where does SrK stand? 16 years after delivering his first hit and rising to stardom and 13 years since he captured the top reigns - the superstardom… what’s his position now? Lat time I checked he had two blockbusters in one year, had his fourth consecutive success in OSO, and recaptured the biggest initial record again… for the 5th time in past 6 years.. after holding it intact for 215 weeks (amongst 5 movies) that amonuts to more than 4 years during that time period. They say opening records break every week nowadays.. well.. 70% of the time it stays with him. Even if one claims that he’s not outdelivering the other guys, well he’s certainly keeping up with them. Tackling each one at a time. If Hrithik delivered a Dhoom2 with YRF and riding on a successful franchise, he delivered an equally big one OSO under his own production. If Aamir threw a RDB and Fanaa at him, he responded with a hit in Don and a blockbuster in CDI. If Akshay can boast of 4 back-to-back hits, then SrK can boast of 4 back-to-back Bigger hits. And not to mention the versitality… the different genres and the diferent types of roles he played in them, the overseas and what not. 9 out of his last 11 films have been a success including 2 blockbusters and 2 superhits. His last hit-less year? 2005 when he only had one small release Paheli. His last bad year… the last time he had a dissapointing year when he couldn’t deliver a hit inspite of major release? 1999 which was 8 years ago. Again a year with only one realease. The last time he had a year with multiple releases and no major hit? 1996 that’s almost 12 freaking years ago. yes.. he’s still the numero Uno even if teh competition’s got tougher and rivals are closer to him than ever before.
By 1989-90, 16 years after his Zanjeer and 13 years after his Deewar,and 11 years after being reocgnized as the undisputed top star at the box office, where did Amitabh stand in 1989? Well..let’s see.. Amitabh didn’t have a single clean hit post-Mard in 85 and his next hit was Aaj Ka Arjun in 90. Can you beleive that? 5 years without a single hit? 5 freaking years? inpite of starring in some huge films like Aakhree Raasta, Shahenshah, Jaadugar(Parkash Mehra), Toofan (Ketan Desai), Agneepath, etc.. What about the other stars? Well.. all had their share of hits and more success than Amitabh at the time.. with Anil Kapoor at the lead with three consecutive years starring in the year’s bigget hit - Karma (86), Tezaab (87) and Mr. India (88) and following it up with the 2nd biggest hit of the year Ram Lakhan in 89. And not only Anil and the newer generation of stars, Amitabh’s old rivals like Dharam and Jeetendra had significantly better run than Amitabh during that 5-year haul. Even Dilip Kumar had a few superhits including some huge ones during that period? One is tempted to ask the question - Was Amitabh really a top a star by the end of 1989? Did he even held a spot in the top bracket inspite of no hit in 5 years? How does his position in 1990, compare to SrK’s position today? We may not know what the future holds for SrK.. but we do know that 16 years after delivering their first hit and 13 years after making it to to the top, Srk is in a much more stronger position today, than what Amitabh was at the exact same point in his own career. Don’t they say, it’s not that hard to make it to the top, it’s much much harder to stay there once you get there.
Comment by ILG on 18 March 2008:
Gibberish! Dude, why are you wasting everyone’s time and yours too?
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 18 March 2008:
yes.. very insightful indeed. You just made my day and everyone else’s as well with some well-backed arguments there ILG.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 18 March 2008:
Also..ILG .. it had been merely a little over 3 mins that I had posted that, when you made that comment. I’m a 110 certain that you didn’t even the read the damn thing before you passing your judgement.. lol. we need more of you on this forum.
Comment by ILG on 18 March 2008:
What makes you think I have time for this BS. I just skimmed over it and saw where it was headed. Anyway, I dont want to disturb the peace in your la la land. Dream on without my interference.
Comment by flora on 18 March 2008:
i agree with you SP here.post 1985 big b did not give big hit for 5 years(he went to politics too),but he never had that much competition as SRK is doing right now.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 18 March 2008:
lol.. pakdi gayee chori saale ki.. bahut mazaa aaya. Now go back to what you were doing.. didn’t need ur interference here anyways.. but nice to se your types of making a fool of yourself.
Comment by flora on 18 March 2008:
and please dont call big b’s earlier hits(khanna’s hit and kumar’s hit).wasnt srk’s deewana rishi kapoor’s deewana.
Comment by flora on 18 March 2008:
but srk is number 1 thats sure.just look at his consistent hit movies.
Comment by flora on 18 March 2008:
During 1990’s i think it was close between sallu and srk.As much as one can deny sallu was a big force in 90’s(he has the highest number of hits in 90’s).But yes srk has dominated since 1995(purely box office wise)
Comment by ILG on 18 March 2008:
And the nthere was Aamir and then Hrithik and now Akshay. Anyways, shouldn respond to flamethrowing trolls.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 18 March 2008:
flora.. what u r saying then is that he only really was a top star between 78 and 85.. that’s like only 7 years in total.
Also.. SrK never had much of a competition pre-2006 either. In fact the period between 98 and 2005 is a one-man show. His closest rivals.. all had barely all that many hits. Sunny had 2 hits in 01 and that’s it. Hrithik had 2 hits between 00 and 06. Aamir had just one hit. And Salman, though had a few small ones but not a singal significant solo hit in years. And Givinda was pretty much done by 00.
Comment by rks on 18 March 2008:
Top Actors-Year
Top Hits-Year
Comment by flora on 18 March 2008:
yes i do remember that time 2001(post gadar/lagaan)-2003(pre kmg)when all movies were flopping and srk was the only man standing.Pure box office power there.Sallu fizzled and so did hrithik and sunny there.
I wouldnt make big timelines here but even this small period 18-24 months was so depressing at box office that srk’s success stood out.
Comment by flora on 18 March 2008:
thanks for the link rks,
sallu-6
srk-5
aamir-2
hrithik-3
from just a cursory view it may seem complex but i will give srk no 1 hands down because of the nature of his hits(thumping ones) and only 1 of sallu’s 6 have come post 1999.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 18 March 2008:
“During 1990’s i think it was close between sallu and srk.As much as one can deny sallu was a big force in 90’s(he has the highest number of hits in 90’s).”
And Dharam and Rajesh Khanna has almost as many hits as Big B in the 70’s.
I never said that SrK was the top star throughout the 90’s.. just as Amitabh wasn’t the top star trhoughout the 70’s. But once SrK grabbed the top star position, there wasn’t much looking backl.. the others, includling salman and Aamir, just couldn’t keep close.. just as Dharam couldn’t keep close post 78. 68-72 it was all Khanna, 73-77 was a tug of war.. but Dharam did deliver more than anyone else..while 78 onward it was all Bachchan. Similarly, 86-90 Anil delivered the most.90-93 was anyone’s to take..94-98 was a tug of war but SrK delivered well above other.. and 98 onward it was all Srk till 2006.
and ILG.. u still here?
Comment by Qalandar on 18 March 2008:
RKS: it’s odd that TZP is dismissed as merely a big-city phenomenon at that link; the same could be said of many films (Chak De India by contrast is referred to as a “big blockbuster” and Taare Zameen Par is quite downplayed). In general also the commentary is pretty patchy (e.g. Yaaraana listed as doing “pretty well”? Mard was also a lot more than a “superhit”, India Today referred to it as one of the top ten blockbusters ever in a 1990 special edition commemorating 15 years of the magazine… ) In general we see things like how SRK superhits are referred to as “big blockbusters” (e.g. CDI) whereas Bachchan superhits are often not, or are listed as doing “pretty well”; it’s hard not to infer some bad faith here.
Comment by tuhin on 18 March 2008:
Actually the piece has many wrong information.For example, Akheri Raasta was a super hit movie in 1986.Amir had between 97 to 2006—Ghulam, Sarfarosh, Lagan, Dil Chahta Hai as hits.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 18 March 2008:
anyways.. flora.. my question is of the longetivity and the strength to stay at the top. If we are going to talk absolute dominance.. then Rajesh KHanna for the brief 4 year stance eats all others alive…
Comment by flora on 18 March 2008:
“And Salman, though had a few small ones but not a singal significant solo hit in years”
well SP interesing you say that,even i was wondering.sallu hasnt given one solo hit in 10 years.(yes 10).last one was pyar kiya to darna kya.but i guess his stance of doing any movie has helped him.quite a phenomemon there.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 18 March 2008:
tuhin.. If Ghulam and Sarfarosh are hits.. then so are Baadshah, KHKN and RBGM. If DCH is a hit, then Josh is a superhit. But even then.. even if I go lenient on the classifications.. it doesn’t really make much of a difference.
Comment by jayshah on 18 March 2008:
TZP at #5 last year. Year before Fanaa at #5 behind Vivah. Vivah is small budget so ahead of Fanaa makes sense. TZP is easily the smallest cost of any of the top 5 there, only made a shade under Partner/CDI but is placed at 5.
And must have been a typo and completely ignored but BOI has Big B at #1 for 17 straight years. Kind of puts an end to this post. Guess if we are going to use BOI as the source of Aamir’s one hit in 10 years, might as well use the link for the main point of the post. In fact SRK wasn’t #1 from 99-01 according to BOI. Damn they must have made so many typo’s on this page. And 96-97 aswell. Whats going on here?
So basically Big B was #1 for longer than nearly SRK’s whole career now. I didn’t know that.
What was this post about again?
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 18 March 2008:
And Q.. well let’s just say that Mard was a big blocknbuster.. and CDI just a small hit.. it still doesn’t change much. Post-Mard Bachchan had no hits post-Mard… and had none for a good five years.. On the other hand.. whether it a hit or a blockbuster.. CDI is a successful film.. and there’ve been 9 more of them in the past 5 years. even if you don’t acknowledge all of them.. even if you take half of them.. that’s still more than Amitabh’s zero.
And mind you.. if I apply all risky-business arguments that you guys to favour Aamir and against SrK,.. if I apply that to Amitabh and his rivals in the 80’s, it makes a far worse case for him… far far worse.
Comment by tuhin on 18 March 2008:
Akheri Rasta was a super hit movie of 1986…so Amitabh didn’t have a hit post Mard is wrong.
Comment by flora on 18 March 2008:
“tuhin.. If Ghulam and Sarfarosh are hits.. then so are Baadshah, KHKN and RBGM. If DCH is a hit, then Josh is a superhit.”
SP those aamir movies were more succesfull then those srk movies.but yes they were not outright hits.even that doesnt change the equation.
comparing srk with aamir box office wise is futile.srk dominates easily.
one thing going for aamir is his longevinity(and he is getting bigger and bigger).
Comment by jayshah on 18 March 2008:
BTW only hits taken into account? Why not flops? Kind of a one-sided story to show just success.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 18 March 2008:
lol.. once again.. u mean semi-hit right? AR was as much a hit as Josh was in 00, as MP was in 05.. anyways.. how much of a difference does it make..
http://boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=192&catName=MTk4Ng==
Comment by ILG on 18 March 2008:
Re: Post-Mard Bachchan had no hits post-Mard
Thats pretty representative of the general incoherence of this whole like of argument.
Comment by ILG on 18 March 2008:
If you cannot see the difference between a blinding sun and a zero watt bulb, you are blind.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 18 March 2008:
“BTW only hits taken into account? Why not flops?..”
lol.. those Amitabh flops between 85 and 90.. and including the flops post 90.. and some of the biggest ones out there.
Comment by flora on 18 March 2008:
yes thats what i am saying all this doesnt make a difference.
srk dominates aamir easily.now if it depends on aamir doing less movies and meaningful movies is all things aamir should care for(he has also carved a niche for himself only because of this)so its quite simple.
And if srk is now doing 1 movie a year and akshay 4 and akshay gives more hits then thats a fact.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 18 March 2008:
ILG.. far worse is when one like you mistakes between the two and sees one as the other. I see the position of one coming off 8 straight flops as far worse than one coming of 4 straight hits… or one who’s had 9 out of last 11 a hit or better. you don’t … and that’s why you indulge in heresay instead of any worthwhile rebuttal.
btw.. ur 1st comment implied that u wont be making any more here.. what happened?
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 18 March 2008:
well.. with Aamir-SrK.. all I gotta say is that he couldn’t keep up when he was doing multiple films a year (pre-Rangeela_ and certainly couldn’t keep up when started doing one film a year - 3 hits in 10 years (95-2005)
Comment by jayshah on 18 March 2008:
flora depends which way you look at it. If you look at # then SRK wins. If you look at % of successes I guess it will tell a completely different story. How many actual trade clean flops has Aamir had since 96. Only Mela and Earth. If you count flop films add MP to the list.
In this period he is still bankable. Salman/SRK got huge hits but played it safe in those big hits. They also had some huge high profile flops in this time, much more than Aamir.
Depends how you define things. # of hits, then Akshay beats everyone in past 2 years. Magnitude then SRK/Hrithik have hit. Prestige/genre then Aamir has it. And over last 12-13 years SRK has not ‘dominated’. In overseas yes, but Hrithik/Sallu/Aamir have all scuppered SRK on certain years. 96,99,00,01,05,06 were all years where comp out performed SRK. 97,98,02,03,04 he outperformed competition. On balance he is the biggest star of past 13 years, but not outright. Others have on more than few occasions taken his throne. He has basically won it back.
Comment by rks on 18 March 2008:
Q: I just put the data link, interpretation vary from person to person
. As for TZP, when initially announced, the budget was 6cr! (Link ) later BOI said it is 9cr (Link - Q3 ). So in all estimation it is less than 10cr.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 18 March 2008:
yes,… Akshay in 2007 had more hits than Aamir in the entire 90’s decade.
Comment by flora on 18 March 2008:
SP thanks for the post.even though i dont agree with many parts of the post and do believe that big b is overall(his post 2000 success added)equal to or slightly more than what srk will do from now on.
But its articles like this that first got me attracted to NG.
Comment by jayshah on 18 March 2008:
Well I’ve seen something for 16Cr on TZP. Either way this is easily the biggest ROI hit of last year by a margin.
Comment by flora on 18 March 2008:
yes jayshah i agree with your last post very much.Also i just said srk dominates aamir only based on no of hits.If you say success ratio then aamir is certainly ahead.but at the same time i am also ready to say akshay will be no 1 if he gives 3 hits this year.
Comment by flora on 18 March 2008:
and all those people crying of akshay’s repetition are only jealous of his success.srk dominated 1995-2003(based on his romantic movies)and nobody said anything.power to akshay.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 18 March 2008:
jayshah.. ur argument would hold the same for Amitabh as well. # of hits Dharam wins. Versitality-wise Sanjeev Kumar rapes him. Where Prestige goes, he didnd’t close to Dilip Kumar. And talking of Dilip kumar might as well give him the % as well. And how many years do you think Amitabh dominated out of those 17? lol.. the kind of excuses made against SrK is simply laughable to say the least.
Anyways.. I’m out will be back 16 hours later. And hope to see someone actually make a worthwhile case for Amitabh.
Comment by flora on 18 March 2008:
by the way nothing wrong with srk doing romantic movies.being no 1 is important.he is coming with bnbdj this december to break records.
Comment by Qalandar on 18 March 2008:
Flora: agreed on Akshay; some of these arguments smack of bad faith.
Comment by jayshah on 18 March 2008:
And films Aamir has done; Ghulam, Sarforosh, RH, Lagaan, RDB, TZP - he’s a lone hand in terms of BO for these films. One cannot compare a Ghulam type film to a KKHH. A Ghulam will never do 50Cr - just as much as a Chalte Chalte would never do the business of a K3G.
Taking hits just as hits isn’t nuanced enough. A fair few factors affect a film’s overall success, not just one actor.
Comment by flora on 18 March 2008:
dilip kumar has the highest success ratio with 80%.and didnt had a outright flop for 15 years(go figure that).
Comment by Rocky on 18 March 2008:
may be what is inferred in the above post is true Paise wise.
But I have to quote Sanjeev Kumar from Sholay-
“Sikke aur Insaan mein shayad yahee farak hai” !!!
Translation:
Money/hits/flops alone can not determine who has had more effect on the people and on the box office. SRK ko Amitabh ka A choone mein abhi bahut waqt hai .
and to quote SRK from Swades:
Mere Itna samjhane ke baad bhee agar aapko samajh nahin aaya to shayad samjhane ka koi fayada hee nahin hai !!
Comment by flora on 18 March 2008:
and a bit off topic but staying on domination,all people who think current australian cricket team is the best ever,read:
west indies didnt lose a test series(home or away) for 15 years.
Comment by flora on 18 March 2008:
from 1980-1995 until australia defeated them.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 18 March 2008:
and before I leave..a few more on Aamir.
Between 88 and 95, when Aamir was doing as many filmas athe others guys wer he had far more flops than anyone else..a nd almost everyone of them was an outright disaster. Films u probabaly never heard of.. Love Love Love, Jawani Zindabadad, Awwal Number, Deewana Mujhsa Nahin, Isi Ka Naam Zindagi, SahebZaade etc etc…
But then he remodelled his career to follow Dilip Kumar’s path.. hoping to get teh kind of succes.. but alas.. tahtw asn’t so.. 3 hits in 10 years. And yes.. a Gulam may never become a KKHH type of a hit.. but didn’t he do a Mela and a AHAT hoping to do that? Wasn’t Mann supposed to repeat Dil for him? it just didnt work him.
And finally.. for most of the 90’s not only Sunny Deol and Salman Khan… but Govinda was a bigger player at the BO office. Not only did his films get a better deal from teh distributers.. but also had more chance of becomingg hits as well as open better than Aamir almost consistently.
Comment by ILG on 18 March 2008:
SRK has been the most successful in last sixteen years. Thats acceptable. To say he has ‘dominated’ could only be true in someone’s twisted sadomasochistic sexual fantasy.
When you talk about AB and SRK, it is like Raja Bhoj and Gango Teli. People who are chronologically and intellectually challenged, cannot really appreciate the chasm that separates the two.
Comment by akshay shah on 18 March 2008:
Well written post, unfortunately bought down by some “dreamy” moments..will post a proper reply to it in time…
But once again….people basically don’t understand what the Bachchan phenomenon was…..and how BIG it was…what impact it had on the common man and public….and posts like this clearly outlie that….no rights or wrong..just a basic lack of knowledge of the era and a generation gap!!!!
Comment by rks on 18 March 2008:
Replace SahebZaade(that is a Sanjay Dutt movie) with ‘Tum mere ho’ and ‘Athank hi Athank’
Comment by akshay shah on 18 March 2008:
“and please dont call big b’s earlier hits(khanna’s hit and kumar’s hit).wasnt srk’s deewana rishi kapoor’s deewana.”–Good point this flora…going by that..K3G belongs to AB and Hrithik, MOHABBATEIN belongs to AB equally, OSO Is half the industry?!?!?!?!
Comment by rks on 18 March 2008:
Tuhin: Welcome to the forum.
Comment by Ravi on 18 March 2008:
Rocky the post of the day!!! Well said. That is why I like you bro.
Comment by akshay shah on 18 March 2008:
““Sikke aur Insaan mein shayad yahee farak hai” !!!
Translation:
Money/hits/flops alone can not determine who has had more effect on the people and on the box office. SRK ko Amitabh ka A choone mein abhi bahut waqt hai .
and to quote SRK from Swades:
Mere Itna samjhane ke baad bhee agar aapko samajh nahin aaya to shayad samjhane ka koi fayada hee nahin hai !!
“–WHOA! SOO WELL SAID!!! Boxoffice alone cannot be a measure for what the Bachchan era stood for…
Comment by Rocky on 18 March 2008:
That is why I like you bro.
The feeling is Mutual Ravi.
Thanks Ravi and AKS !!
Comment by Rocky on 18 March 2008:
Tuhin Re.- Actually the piece has many wrong information.
author kee Tauheeen mat karo Bhai ! LOL !!Just Kidding!!
Welcome to NG !!
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 18 March 2008:
“…Boxoffice alone cannot be a measure for what the Bachchan era stood for…”
And I was talking BO alone. Chalo itna to maan liya.. that atleast at the BO he wasn’t as big a player post-85 as SrK is today and has been for the past few years. Baaki.. who cares. I don’t care if Bachchan is 2 feet taller or 10 kilo heavier. if you daddy was a fan and your mommy loved him. stuff like that don’t mean shit. We are talking of BO here (I made the assumption that you nutheads probably knew that).. and at the BO, as the facts and figures show, he didn’t deliver much inspite of being considered the superstar of the day.
Comment by Simply Som on 18 March 2008:
I would just say one thing, SRK has been more or less consistent than other actors delivering at least one hit al most every year.its not the magnitude of success, its the consistency that has been going in favor of him for many years.
Comment by Simply Som on 18 March 2008:
Tuhin: welcome to the forum! i hope you do have a rocking time here!!
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 18 March 2008:
And yes.. maybe I should call Roti Kapda Aur Makaan an Amitabh hit…I wonder those who been crying about it have even seen the film or not. You idiots! I am not talking of an AAA or MKS.. not even a Naseeb here.. the films I mentioned were in fact Manoj Kumar films.. or a Khanna film (in Namak Haraam, Anand’s case). But once again.. why you pointing out little itty-bitties here and there. whether ur coffee is dark brown or light brown.. it’s still very much brown.. not white. Now whether CDI is a blockbuster or just another tinie-tiny hit, or whether a Fanaa is more risky than a Don.. or OSO had the star advantage that none of other stars’ films ever had .. or for that matter Amitabh’s Akhree Raasta was a hit and not a semi-hit.. or that Ghulam and Sarfarsoh were clean hits and what not.. you can have it all your way and still nothing really changes much. SrK still stands in a much better light today than Amitabh did at any point post-Mard.. post 85 or Geraftaar or whatever you prefer.
Comment by Qalandar on 18 March 2008:
Absolutely agree on Anand and Roti Kapda aur Makaan– but you are incorrect on Namak Haraam, which entered memory as Amitabh stealing the show from Khanna. In fact that film is almost entirely remembered for Bachchan and not Khanna (Anand on the other hand is the quintessential Khanna classic).
Comment by flora on 18 March 2008:
SP i was just trying to say that what if big b played supporting roles that doesnt make a difference,so what if srk was in a supporting role in his first movie.so chill down,its the post 85 thing you are trying to make a point about with which i do agree to some level.
Comment by Simply Som on 18 March 2008:
If i am not wrong,Bachchan did take a small break from films and joined politics in 1984.He contested in the parliamentary elections and won the constituency(Allahabad) by a big margin.He was mostly busy with politics from 1984-88.
Comment by flora on 18 March 2008:
yes som you are right.i pointed it out earlier,he left movies the same way govinda did so you only see few movies during 1985-90 from him.infact shehanshah(1988) was his comeback movie and was a success only because of record breaking opening.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 18 March 2008:
“SRK has been the most successful in last sixteen years. Thats acceptable. To say he has ‘dominated’ could only be true in someone’s twisted sadomasochistic sexual fantasy”
ok.. to begin with Amitabh didn’t dominate for the 13 years either. lol.. how can he when in the last 5 years of it he didn’t deliver a single hit.
Secondly, I never said that SrK domintaed the entire 13 year period. He was more successful than the rest for the first 4 years of it (92-96), and has been competing a close race the past couple of years of it (06-07). .. what’s in between, the 8 year period between 97-2005 is what he was simply dominating. He delivered far more hits than his peers. Had more record-breaking initials than the rest of the guys.. and dominated every aspect of Bollywood celebrity-ness in that 8 year period. And .. please.. find for me any 7,8 or 9 year period in Amitabh’s career when he was as dominant a force at the box office. Yes.. he probabaly scored more hits between 77 and 84 but so did his peers. Dharam, Khanna, Jeetu, all delivered hits in that time (just as everybody has been doing the past couple of years). Whether it be 76, 77.. or any single year between 80 to 90 or beyond, Amitabh neither had teh biggest hits (except Coolie in 83) nor did he dominate in anyway whatsoever. But between 97 and 2005, SrK had three times as many hits as that of next closest rival.. not to mention the difference in magniitude… or for that matter the influence of overseas market on Bollywood.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 18 March 2008:
flora.. I was responding to Akshay’s rhetoric there.. not you..calling Moh an Amitabh film and OSO that f teh entire industry.
And Q .. all I can say about Namak Haraam is that it came out in 93.. after Amitabh had delivered just one hit while Khanna was coming off a 3year phase when anything he touched had turned into a superhit or a blockbuster.. but anyways.. the film wasn’t that much of a success anyways. The reason I mentioned the film was just to show that Amitabh didn’t just have a Zanjeer that made him a star.. there were a number of other films that had succeeded and amongst which some were his own mild success like Abhiman and some were other stars’ like Anand and Namak Haraam. Even if them films weren’t successful because of him, they definitely succeeded him and he did benefit from them to say the least.
Comment by flora on 18 March 2008:
in between 1997-2005(semihit+ movies)
srk-13
sallu-11
I do agree on the magnitude difference and that srk dominated since 1995 but dont make things up.
Comment by flora on 18 March 2008:
SP i do agree that the following years belonged to srk and thus show his dominance
1993
1995
1997
1998
2002
2004
not to forget he had good hits in
1992
2000
2001
2003
nothing is left there
Comment by akshay shah on 18 March 2008:
” if you daddy was a fan and your mommy loved him. stuff like that don’t mean shit”–Kids will be kids:)
Comment by akshay shah on 18 March 2008:
And I guess the fact someone like Street will never “understand” is NOT just Box-office figures in today’s times……but the sheer MASS HYSTERIA Bachchan created…..MASS HYSTERIA…PHENMENON…..stuff you don’t see for SRK films except in a SRK nut-head’s wet dreams..
but meh..like I said..it’s a lack of understanding, homo-erotic love, merged with outright fanaticism…don’t have much else to say on that:)…..
Comment by akshay shah on 18 March 2008:
And with all due respect to Dharampaaji…
Why are these movies never talked about even today?
:”Jugnu, Yaadon Ki Baraat, Loafer, Pratigya, Dharam Veer, Chacha Bhatija, CC, Charas”?
Comment by Rocky on 18 March 2008:
Re-We are talking of BO here (I made the assumption that you nutheads probably knew that)..
Miyan,Hum bhee BS nahin kar rahe yaha, but I guess it will be too much to assume and expect from some Goof balls !
Re.-if you daddy was a fan and your mommy loved him. stuff like that don’t mean shit
I have got news for some Shit Heads,It matters a shit load to me what my dad and Mom love or care about so don’t fucking go there !
Comment by NyKavi on 18 March 2008:
Aur aa gayein hain geedar sotey hue sheron ko jagaane…
Afsos ki is mandharak afsaane ke saath geedaron ne jagaya hai..
Kyon koshish chalti rahti hai, chuhon ko sher ka khitaab dene ki?
Kyon akal ko taala lagake chaabi ko kisi gehre gutter mein pheka jaata hai?
Khujli lagti hai to khujlao, kyoon be-sir-pair daleelon pe utar aate ho?
Uff..geedaron ki in aadaton ne neend haraam kar di hai.
SP dude..
Amitabh was not Amitabh after his accident. He was done by 1982. He was dead meat in Breach Candy in 1982. Everything from 1982 to now is a miracle that you are witnessing. So forget ur stats. The guy was a walking zombie, just go check his physicality after that accident. He put on weight, developed myasthenia gravis, yet had the energy to enter politics in 1984,quit after 3 yrs,fought a Bofors scandal for several years, and by 1990 he had already been through every conceivable up and down that anyone can go through.
Let SRK first go get involved in a near death experience after the 9th year of his reign, and then come back with all these stats.
Do ghodon ko race mein to daal dete ho, pur 9th lap ke baad ek ke pair kaat liye, phir bole ke mera ghoda race jeet gaya? Boss itni cheating bhi achi nahi hai.
Comment by aby2000 on 18 March 2008:
A movie on AB’s life would be awesome…..the number of times this guy has gone through the extreme highs and lows is just amazing…always fighting through the lows and being always humble through to the highs…..totally unmatched in personality, acting and in his megastar status!
Comment by akshay shah on 18 March 2008:
Rocky Re: “I have got news for some Shit Heads,It matters a shit load to me what my dad and Mom love or care about so don’t fucking go there !”–_I was going for a similar reaction Rocky..lekin kutto ke mu nahin lagte..bhonkh ne do unko:)
Comment by sheeru on 18 March 2008:
Street Pharmacist you stupid Dumbass kid…go back to class man…get your hand outta SRk’s pants and your face outta Srk’s ass…go to school and educate yourself…maybe then you’ll learn how people talk to others…fucken clown.
Comment by kmkm13 on 19 March 2008:
HEY SHEERU NO NEED TO INSULT ANYONE HERE NOONE TOLD YOU TO COMMENT….GO BACK TO CLASS YOURSELF.
BTW STREET VERY GOOD ARTICLE.
Comment by Nitesh on 19 March 2008:
“A movie on AB’s life would be awesome…..the number of times this guy has gone through the extreme highs and lows is just amazing…always fighting through the lows and being always humble through to the highs…..totally unmatched in personality, acting and in his megastar status!”
completely agree.
Amitabh as a phenomenon is difficult to replicate forget about surpassing it.
Static Takers of SRK forget that Amitabh is not a name but an Indian (nationwide) phenomena and had unsupassed persona.
Comment by Julie on 19 March 2008:
SP - The comparison between Bachchcan and SRK will be most evident by the No. of hits that each has given in their respective tenor of acting. Just look at the hits and even Semi Hits to determine the star power.
Bachchan’s No. of hits any day outdoes the No. of hits of any other Star. That is one thing you also will find hard to dispute if you just look at the stats in BOI. Bachchan’s No. of hits and semi hits in the 70’s and even the 80’s are quiet a feat. WOuld suggest that you don’t just look at the top 50 movies of the decade but look at year by year stats. SRK will not feature even close to him.
Undoubtedly SRK ruled the decade of the 90’s but in the 2000’s he has very stiff competition from Hritik and now Akhshay Kumar in terms of just the volume of business contributed to the film industry.
Bachchan is a phenomenon that singlehandedely ruled the 70’s and the 80’s and has left his sheer mark in part of the 90’s and 2000. SO that is roughly 4 decades for you.
Comment by Nitesh on 19 March 2008:
kmkm13,I do not find anything wrong in anybody’s language.
Everyone’s style is different and the language of SP, Sheeru is often used in corporate houses as well.
Comment by Nitesh on 19 March 2008:
Julie completely agree with the last comment you made.
Comment by kmkm13 on 19 March 2008:
TO each his own Bachchan had little competitors while Srk is delivering admist still competition.The max number of hit wise AB wins but Rajesh khanna too had a Great Bo tenure till Bachchan came up and blow Him away.
If that prestige or genre thing is thrown then AB looses just check the kind of films that came out in the 70 and 80.Bachchan could certainly have woken up and act responsibly than just churning out hits.Being content with angry young man image….Even Hirishikesh said that they had transform Amitabh into and action hero…
Comment by Nitesh on 19 March 2008:
“If that prestige or genre thing is thrown then AB looses”
agree with you kmkm13…
The fact the Amitabh is a phenomena just goes on to show that prestige is not the essential.
with large volume of hits, Amitabh can be born.
Comment by Nitesh on 19 March 2008:
and so can SRK.
Comment by jeegs on 19 March 2008:
“Undoubtedly SRK ruled the decade of the 90’s but in the 2000’s he has very stiff competition from Hritik and now Akhshay Kumar in terms of just the volume of business contributed to the film industry.”
actually its other way round 90s was close btw srk-salman but in 2000s Srk was only one till 2006 when Hrithik, Aamir and Akshay came to form . Hrithik had great launch but he then had a slum , Aamir took a break while Akshay had more flops than hits till 07.
Comment by rks on 19 March 2008:
No personal comments against members please.
Comment by rks on 19 March 2008:
Good to see you Jeegs.
If interested in avatars.
Please goto http://site.gravatar.com and register with same email ID as one for NG. You will receive a mail for verification. After you verify(choose password), you would be able to upload avatars from Disk or URL at gravatar website. Make sure to mark the avatar as ‘G rated’. Associate (confirm by double clicking on uploaded image) the uploaded image with same email ID. It would show up here at NG.
Comment by jeegs on 19 March 2008:
thanx Rks .
glad to be back on NG .
Comment by kmkm13 on 19 March 2008:
Yeah jeegs welcome back…
Btw you are back only when my team will clash with yours.Hope it’s a good match whoever wins (we”ll dominate Manu wins same story every year.)
Comment by jeegs on 19 March 2008:
thanx Km.
on the match Man u is playing bad this days . so liverpool has a fair chance but if we get 3 points i dont care whoever dominates .
Comment by Julie on 19 March 2008:
“Hrithik had great launch but he then had a slum , Aamir took a break while Akshay had more flops than hits till 07.”
Partly agree with the comment. But the best parameter for cpmaring success and faiures would be to look at year by year perfromance. Besides 2000s is still not over. I do see Akshay Kumar, Hritik, Aamir and Salman posing big threats to the power of SRK. But again looking at year by year performance in the 90’s I just find SRK ahead of the rest.
Comment by rockstar on 19 March 2008:
“jayshah.. ur argument would hold the same for Amitabh as well. # of hits Dharam wins. Versitality-wise Sanjeev Kumar rapes him. Where Prestige goes, he didnd’t close to Dilip Kumar. And talking of Dilip kumar might as well give him the % as well.”
hillarious he compared 2 contemporary on versatility ( srk and aamir), sanjeev and dilip sahab were moved to chraracter roles(qila ,aag ka dariya, izzetdar did not even saw the light of the day) , i do not think they were amitabh’s contemporary
Comment by sheeru on 19 March 2008:
kmkm13: SHUTUP…I can comment anywhere I want…If people here are low enough to talk about moms and dads I think I can give my input…basically all Im sayin is Streetpantzy don’t mess.
Comment by rockstar on 19 March 2008:
“ok.. to begin with Amitabh didn’t dominate for the 13 years either. lol.. how can he when in the last 5 years of it he didn’t deliver a single hit.”
lol, aakhreeh rasta , sehanshah, agneepath etc were in ur so called period , copmare them to srk recent hits post 2007, in 2006( don and kank, trade is still divided in calling them sucess infact they are not among the top 5 grossers of the day , paheli in 2005 , hardly visible in 2001 with ashoka ,)
Comment by rockstar on 19 March 2008:
ok.. to begin with Amitabh didn’t dominate for the 13 years either. lol.. how can he when in the last 5 years of it he didn’t deliver a single hit.”
lol, aakhreeh rasta , sehanshah, agneepath etc were in ur so called period , compare them to srk recent hits post 2007, in 2006( don and kank, trade is still divided in calling them sucess infact they are not among the top 5 grossers of the day , paheli in 2005 , hardly visible in 2001 with ashoka ,)
Comment by kmkm13 on 19 March 2008:
Sheeru SHUT UP YOURSELF….So you’ll be low when others are low strange logic you have !!!!!
Comment by rockstar on 19 March 2008:
“TO each his own Bachchan had little competitors while Srk is delivering admist still competition.The max number of hit wise AB wins but Rajesh khanna too had a Great Bo tenure till Bachchan came up and blow Him away.”
really i thought its other way around srk got on top easily in 90’s , sanju was sent to jail , anil was on a decline even he was deleivring duds with yashraj , govinda did not had the big banner and was limited to comedy genre, aamir was in shell after his debut , infact it was sallu who deleivring constantly was on par with number 1 till 99 after which he lost base with the arrival of multiplex culture
Comment by rockstar on 19 March 2008:
little competition huh , when he arrived rajesh khanna’s eupuhoria was on top , dharmendra was huge , jeetendra deleivred consistently with his southernhits(he made his own genre much like akki) , vinod khanna was a hunk and was on top league , rishi was an emerging romantic star who got stardom allmost on same time with big b etc
Comment by kmkm13 on 19 March 2008:
If you are trying to find excuses for SRK lead by saying he was top by default (sanju anil whatever suits you)Then the same can be done for AB he was always in 3 hero projects got more plaudits than anyone.Vinod was once thought to to become AB’s rival till he retired went to Osho…Evey career is questionable it depends from what perspective you see it!!!
Comment by rockstar on 19 March 2008:
well that was in response to how AB had no competition and his route was easy , even aamir took a break of 3 year due to his personal problem ( people forget that while mentioning 3 hits in 10 year ) again it depends on what perspective u see
Comment by sheeru on 19 March 2008:
GET LOW…the lowest here is Streetpantzy…and how come your defending a person who is so low…you low too…if not come GET LOW hahahaha.
Comment by rockstar on 19 March 2008:
“Then the same can be done for AB he was always in 3 hero projects got more plaudits than anyone” well again same can be said about srk to on his many projects but again most of them were sold on AB’S name to distributors
Comment by sheeru on 19 March 2008:
how come all the time SRk fans are on one side and then Amitabh fans are on the other side…n there is always this crap going on about whos stronger…whos the king…who ruled who…you guys should give it a break…there is so much more to talk about…like Race…and how hot Katrina and Bips look in that film.
Comment by rockstar on 19 March 2008:
well again on genre he tried to be different , Bombay to Goa, Mili, Anand, Zanjeer, Deewar, Trishul, Silsila, Mahaan, Kala Paththar, Lawaaris, Chupke Chupke, Satte pe Satta, Agneepath, Sholay, Don, Sharabi, Black, Baghban are all versatile to the hilt
Comment by rockstar on 19 March 2008:
“how come all the time SRk fans are on one side and then Amitabh fans are on the other side…n there is always this crap going on about whos stronger…whos the king…who ruled who…you guys should give it a break…there is so much more to talk about”
sheeru when a crap has been started u have to reply to that
Comment by jayshah on 19 March 2008:
‘…and how come your defending a person who is so low…’
Damn right. The guy’s been worse and on like 50 million occassions before. Didn’t see this kind of attack launched at him. But this time we have a defence put up for him. Good one here, really looking after the SRK fans aren’t we?
‘…like Race…and how hot Katrina and Bips look in that film’
Hmm…Katrina is looking great! This movie has crept up out of nowhere and looks like it might surprise!
Comment by kmkm13 on 19 March 2008:
Sheeru you have no right to call me low…And if you are looking for low moments on NG Street defo won’t win there are worse than HIM here.Don’t tell me there no solidarity among fans here it will be a LIE!!
Comment by rockstar on 19 March 2008:
rajesh khanna , dharmendra , jeetendra , Vinod khanna, Rishi kapoor, Mithun chakraborty, Shatrughan sinha, Shashi kapoor, Anil kapoor, Sunny deol etc were no competition hillarious
Comment by sheeru on 19 March 2008:
Since I’ve been so off topic…I think I’ll jump into this debate…Amitabh gave hits in all genres…Most of SRK’s hits come from the romantic/romance genre…therefore, Amitabh rocks…say Shava Shava.
Comment by sheeru on 19 March 2008:
kmkm13:
Ok I apologize I had no right to say that your low…Im low…your high…happy…bye.
Comment by jeegs on 19 March 2008:
@ julie - year by year comparison may not always show right things one has to be consistent too . that is where srk scores over others at this point . he has been in top 3 every year since 2000 while others move in and out of competition .
on future Akshay has best line up at this point but then no one can tell what will happen .
Comment by sheeru on 19 March 2008:
First of all…Street Pantzy…sorry sorry…Street Pharmacy or whatever your name is…was the one who took this whole thing overboard by making some ill comments…no one on this forum is low…I’ve been on NG since it first started up…this kind of shit aint tolerated here…we dont take digs or shots at other members…arguments and debates are a different thing…I am low…cause I get brought to that level cause of some fools.
SRK fans you guys rock…keep supporting Khan
Amitabh fans you guys rock…keep supporting Big B
And a few Ppl here that think Kats and Bips look hott in Race…make sure to watch the film at a theatre near you…Im pritty sure they’ll look hotter and sexier on the big screen.
Comment by jayshah on 19 March 2008:
‘And a few Ppl here that think Kats and Bips look hott in Race…make sure to watch the film at a theatre near you…Im pritty sure they’ll look hotter and sexier on the big screen’
LOL! Few people? I think this is something whole forum can agree on, they look great!
Comment by beld o beld on 19 March 2008:
This thread is too big to read guys. As always, we are but a bunch of kids fighting on whether five star is better or milk chocolate.
Comment by Nitesh on 19 March 2008:
I think in this fast moving India of youngsters, we should talk about
1. Current No 1 - Based on 1-2 years of hits(Akshay)
2. Decade’s No 1 - Based on the whole body of hits since last 10-15 years(SRK)
3. Future No 1 - Based on the number and quality of film in hand(Akshay/Abhishek/Hrithik)
4. Beyond No 1 - Choice/frequency of films makes them go beyond the numbergame (Aamir)
5. Forever No 1 - Based on the whole body of hits since last 30 years and still working and commanding power (Amitabh)
I guess from the comments of everyone, their definition of No 1 and choices can be any one of the above 4 based on the criteria they use to identify their No 1.
Media usually talk about the current No 1 which in my opinion is like selling hot and readymade news to the current generation and the reason why Akshay finds favour much to the annoyance of history lovers.
Comment by Ravi on 19 March 2008:
Good going guys and as usual nice comments by Julie.
By the way I like this Sheeru guy, someone who can talk to SP in the language he understands, good.
Rocky bhai ko gussa aa gaya? Wow, so that is Rocky’s weak point eh?
Comment by beld o beld on 19 March 2008:
Nitesh, nice way to put it but disagree on choices. For me as per your classifications, 1,2 and 3 all have srk as no 1. For the 4th its still amitabh but in 15 yrs or so, I won’t be surprised to see srk take that spot.
Comment by Nitesh on 19 March 2008:
well beld on 1, media is getting divided between Akshay and SRK.
If you combine 1 and 3, Akshay is catching media’s attentiaon more and more and again this is not my opinion but impression that I get from different news articles (recent one being that from Indian Express that I posted yesterday)
Comment by beld o beld on 19 March 2008:
Street, again dude, you write very well but leave the abuses out pal. It takes away from the sound logic to most of your writings.
And ya ignore the double standards here where they condemn your language but encourage others to write the same stuff.
Comment by beld o beld on 19 March 2008:
Nitesh, maybe I am wrong but I haven’t seen akshay being called bigger than srk by more than a couple of media outlets. Maybe after this year but I seriously doubt he is today.
Btw, personally I never took akshay seriously until the success of welcome. That makes him a bonafide contender imo.
Comment by ILG on 19 March 2008:
Some very relevant comments here.
Most sane people would agree there is not even a hint of a case for the argument being attempted here. The fact one would make an attempt evidences a sheer lack of appreciation for history and poor judgement. One is kind of forced to respond as a mistruth if repeated often and unchallenged assumes the status of a myth.
To say Amitabh had no competition belittles other contemporaries of the period, who are too numerous to be enumerated. Suffice to say, each one of them would surpass SRK in terms of talent and appeal.
SRK has tapped into a significant and hitherto unexplored area of Indian psyche and has done that effectively and combined with discipline, energy and sound judgement, marshalled a very succesful career. He will be looked back in a few years or decades with reverence and respectand as a pioneer of sorts. But he will never ever be mentioned in the same breadth as Amitabh who apart from possesing more talent in his pinkie than SRK had a far more passionate fascination in publics mind and inspired a different kind of awe that few if any Indian public figures will ever do.
Yes, it is to a degree a generational thing and people who have been fortunate enought to witness both phenomena are far better equipped than nitwits with no sense of history and a fundamentally twisted judgement to comment on it.
Comment by beld o beld on 19 March 2008:
I guess the self proclaimed generational experts have the brain power to term the new generation as nitwits. Only nutwits can do that!
Comment by ILG on 19 March 2008:
New generation is far from nitwits as a whole, Beld. The previous generation is learning a lot from the new one. Thankfully a vast majority of them know better than to endorse an argument like this. Some however are foolish enough to make the argument and some to support it.
Comment by beld o beld on 19 March 2008:
To put it in another way ilg, the new generation believes in live and let live and believes in the power of free speech and opinion. Whereas the previous generation seems to prefer the my way or highway approach.
Comment by ILG on 19 March 2008:
Some truth to what you say Beld. What the new generation or some of it, does not appreciate is that freedom of speech, just like any other right comes with a responsibility, in terms of veracity of your expressed opinions ( paddled as ‘facts’).
Comment by Ravi on 19 March 2008:
So, which generation are you Beld?
Comment by beld o beld on 19 March 2008:
Nope, we are discussing opinions here not facts. I think nitesh’s classification is a better way to measure.
Btw I do believe the current generation takes things too far at times. Sometimes subtlety wins more arguments than shouting from the rooftop.
Comment by beld o beld on 19 March 2008:
Ravi
Main tho kal, aaj aur kal hoon
Comment by Ravi on 19 March 2008:
That is good Beld, wanted to know so that I would know which generation I would belong to.
Now I know.
Comment by beld o beld on 19 March 2008:
Lol Ravi.
Comment by tuhin on 19 March 2008:
Thanks all for the warm welcome. One thing I want to add that during late 70s & 80s Amitabh so-called flops had grossed more than many others hits (with few exceptions). Also BOI is wrong in classifying Akheree Raasta as semi hit, actually they have many wrongs in that box-office history. I remember from 86-87 Filmfare that Akharee Raasta was a super hit.
Comment by Ravi on 19 March 2008:
Welcome Tuhin to NG, looks like you will be someone I will be liking and agreeing with a whole lot.
Comment by Qalandar on 19 March 2008:
Tuhin: BOI has clearly downplayed a number of Bachchan films (for instance Yaarana).
And the problem with the premise of Street’s post is: if Bachchan was never dominant and only slightly ahead of other big stars of the period, he must have pulled off the greatest propaganda victory ever by convincing the media and the public that he was in a different league! Now I wonder how he managed to do that given the media ban for nearly a decade, and the associated media hostility?! Street’s point about the relative modesty of hits like Abhimaan, Milli, majboor, jurmana is also pretty funny: no-one in their right minds could expect these sorts of films to do an Amar Akbar Anthony — but most can’t even pull these sorts of films to safety. Amitabh’s stardom — the scale of it — enabled filmmakers like Hrishikesh Mukherjee to get commercial successes from films that are otherwise hardly safe; as SRK’s track record with Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, Ashoka, Paheli, Swades, and many many more shows, he has very rarely managed that. And if you compare the biggest banners, SRK has delivered huge hits with his banners — but adjusted for inflation, the Bachchan/Desai successes are among the bigger hits in Bollywood history.
Forget Amitabh, as the example I cited re: TZP and CDI shows, it’s quite dishonest of BOI to downplay the former and refer to the latter as a “big blockbuster” while the former is said to have done well in the big cities. And this when (per the links RKS supplied) BOI itself shows a very low budget for TZP (if the point is that TZP is a lesser hit because its distribution price was greater, then I wonder what that tells us about who the bigger star is LOL)…
Comment by jayshah on 19 March 2008:
Welcome to NG tuhin btw
Comment by ILG on 19 March 2008:
Q,
Agree completely but it is hardly surprising that BOI is playing such games.
Comment by ILG on 19 March 2008:
Welcome Tuhin and Myna.
Comment by Qalandar on 19 March 2008:
Anyway, don’t know why I bother: every x weeks Street has a post to the effect that Amitabh’s BO success was overrated, or nothing to write home about, or even that he was an overrated dud somewhat ahead of his peers, whereas SRK strides the earth like a giant among pygmies. Typically these posts will also contain very dismissive comments on SRK’s peers (Aamir is a favorite target, but it could be others depending on who is riding high). It’s hard to get into a debate when the underlying “point” is so blatantly agenda-driven, and relies on blanket assertions and sweeping generalizations, and uncritically uses “data” from a box office site that is demonstrably biased (and when this bias is pointed out, the response is typically to point out the bias of IBOS, irrespective of whether anyone brings it up, and even though IBOS is worthy of being skewered in its own place, and has been time and again by me and others, and is by now the equivalent of the dead horse that keeps getting exhumed for yet another flogging).
For those with even slight familiarity with Indian pop cultural history, the fact is that Amitabh was basically anointed as the top star in 1975 with Deewar. Whether this was fair or unfair to do is a different story (there’s an argument it’s unfair, as Khanna had 3 big hits in 1974 alone, although one of them — Namak Haraam — served as his downfall as rising star Amitabh walked away with the applause and the accolades; that Street refers to this as “Khanna’s Namak Haraam” suggests a lack of awareness of the cultural meaning of Namak Haraam, which was no Roti Kapda aur Makaan or Anand), but some hits “change the game”, and Deewar was one of those (even though its gross was much < than many Bachchan super-successes). And no star achievemnt that I am aware of competes with the miracle year of 1978, when at one point Amitabh had (including the carry-over from 1977) FOUR superhits running in the theaters at the same time. Even looking at the calendar year 1978 the number of superhits Amitabh had is astounding. Over his career that number remains outstanding (of course agree that for the brief period of his ascendancy, no-one matches Rajesh Khanna), but even more astounding is the number of profitable films he did. As Bhavna Somaya wrote in 1992, between 1973 and 1988 only THREE Amitabh films failed to make a profit! This is pretty astounding, when one considers that the films included multiple genres, not just the so-called “angry young man” films but also Hrishikesh Muhkerjee films, the likes of Kabhi Kabhi, bourgeois melodramas like Khuddar, garbage like Mard, as well as big-budgeted “disappointments” like Silsila, Shakti, etc. that were themselves modestly proftable; indeed, such was the expectations game that Shaan, which made more money than almost any other Hindi film in 1981, was universally considered a disappointment. None of this comes through in BOI’s attempt to re-write history, where films like Namak Halaal, Yaarana, and many more are simply modest successes (and where CDI is a “big blockbuster” but TZP merely “did well in big cities”). I don’t ordinarily get into the BO “wars” on NG, but on principle one must stand up for memory against propaganda.
[And btw, it's not just a generational thing at all: I was 10 when Shahenshah was released, and thus in some sense am a member of a post-Bachchan generation myself; however, I do not believe in exalting actors just because they happen to be "from/of my generation"; granted, the Oedipal urge to "slay the father" is a strong -- and perhaps natural one -- but it ought not to be inconsistent with rationality.]
Comment by Ravi on 19 March 2008:
Nicely written Q bhai as always, could not have said it any better.