I don't subscribe to this view at all. I mean all one has to do is look at his last few releases. FAN, Raees, Dear Zindagi are all movies that are content driven. What worked at the BO and what didn't is a different question altogether. He got universal praise for FAN when it comes to his performance. To take up something like FAN which is darn off beat is a big deal man. From no angle it can be called your typical movie as it didn't have songs, didn't have a female lead neither is it a romantic genre. Dear Zindagi as well was darn different and he was brilliant as Jug. He appears in the second half of Dear Zindagi yet it is a performance that stays with you long after the movie is over. Raees had the elements of commercial cinema in it but it was very grounded in reality when it comes to the performances as well as the script.
If one is judging his film choices only through BO then perhaps the above movies will be considered not as successful as compared to some of the huge blockbusters out there. But is there an attempt on his part to do different roles? Hell yeah! I think that's something that has been evident throughout his career. It's darn easy to basically just tag him as a romantic hero. And he excels in that genre man. He has been part of some iconic movies when it comes to that genre so one understands why he's called the king of romance. At the same time the guy started his career with negative roles and owned that genre too. To me it says a whole lot about an actor when they can be darn effortless in any genre and he has that ability.
One has to look at his filmography and see that if he has done a OSO then he has also done a Swades. If he has done a Pardes then he has also done a Dil Se. If he has done a Karan Arjun then he has also done a Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa. That balance between popular genres/cinema and doing roles that are content driven, that have substance to them has always been there. It just so happened that a HNY, Dilwale and CE came back to back. If I'm not wrong post production on FAN took longer than they thought it would otherwise FAN would have released before Dilwale probably.
I understand the point some are trying to make here but at the same time I don't think it's that easy to find films that work both at the BO as well as are content driven and have substance to them. He did a Chak De and Swades way before the trend of so called patriotic movies started. One worked at the BO and one didn't. But both will be remembered everytime one discusses his filmography. So like I was saying it ain't that easy to find films that have the balance of commerce as well as art. Having said that, as a fan of his I'm effing glad he did FAN, Dear Zindagi as well as Raees. I hope he continues to do roles that have some meat to them. As for the BO, no one can really predict that but yeah one would of course want his movies to work at the BO as well. But to compare the BO of a Dear Zindagi or a FAN to your commercial potboilers is a bit unfair. Raees I can still understand being compared as it did have elements of commercial cinema within it but I don't get when the BO of a Dear Zindagi or FAN is compared to a film that belongs to a popular genre.
Edited by zaroonkashaf - 8 years ago
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