Krrish 3 Inflicts Double Anxiety: Khan-daan Reeling With Insecurity

Earlier this year, Ranbir Kapoor exposed the mortality of the Khan-dom. Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani notched up 189 cr nett domestic box office collections. The audience reception of this modern version of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, raised the question of Ranbirdisplacing Shahrukh as the leading romcom superstar.

It surpassed Shahrukh's recent romantic Jab Tak Hai Jaan by a wide margin (which did only 120 cr or so). Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani's 189 cr was also tantalizingly close to the biggest hits of the other two Khans - Salman's Ek Tha Tiger (199 cr) and Aamir's3 Idiots (202 cr).

The insecurity of the Khan camps and their fanatic followers burst out when Besharam released, which was Ranbir's attempt to reach out to a larger audience. The digs taken in the film against all the 3 Khans resulted in more anger. The movie received more severe critical acclaim than what this genre deserves, while the fanatics took to social networking sites to launch a blind-folded hate campaign against the movie. The intensity of the hatred even raised eyebrows from the makers. Unfortunately, audience rejected the film and consequently in turned out to be one of the biggest disasters in recent times.

And then came Krrish 3 ...

It was not expected that the kiddish franchise will evolve into another level. After the rejections of Drona and Ra.One, the superherogenre was also not expected to fetch such disturbingly high returns.

However, November turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Not only did Krrish 3 became a step-up for the series, it also turned out to be a well-made movie in the superhero/sci-fi genre. It successfully merged commercial film-making in Bollywood with extensive use of VFX/CGI, which is at par with the average standard of Hollywood.

This is an un-welcomed shock to our current commercial Bollywood directors, who are reveling by degrading and bas***dizing the traditional masala film genre with southern lowbrow sensibilities, in order to mint money. These film-makers have no technical skill (and hence no inclination) to respond to such a trend. Unfortunately, the box office numbers of Krrish 3 have displayed a high audience demand here - a demand for which most will struggle to supply the goods.

The box office numbers have also been an eye-opener in another context. Apart from setting some records, it has become the current highest grossing movie of Bollywood (242 cr and still running), surpassing all Khan movies. The gross revenue from all avenues(including box office gross, ancillary rights, brand tie-ups and merchandising) is well beyond 500 cr at this point.

What it obviously means is that the Khan narrative is broken. The consequent retaliation is unfortunate, but nonetheless expected.

The anxiety in the Khan camps (pervading parts of media, critical circles, sections of trade and the fanatic followers) have bred insecurity to an unprecedented level. An unreliable anonymous website (with a history of serving Shahrukh's propaganda) hasmanufactured a box-office controversy by making a ridiculous claim that Krrish 3 box-office numbers have been inflated by 70-75 cr. All the 3 camps have found some inexplicable faith in such unsubstantiated claim (as it suits their fantasy quite well).

With Krrish 3 beating the much hyped and publicized box-office records of Shahrukh's Chennai Express, reminding everyone ofRa.One's failure, unsettling Aamir's lookout for a high grosser in Dhoom 3 (after 4 long years), and Salman's hope for a strong comeback (after a year long break) - insecurity is truly justified.

But the bar has now been raised. Nothing less than 300 cr from Dhoom 3 and Jai Ho will be able to reinstate the Khan Triumvirate.

And it will not be easy ... (and definitely not as easy as to believe that Krrish 3 did not do that well !). Khans now have their tasks cut out.