Salman Khan convicted in blackbuck poaching case: What actor's 5 year jail sentence means for Bollywood

The Jodhpur court’s verdict in the 1998 blackbuck poaching case has pulled the brakes, in a sense, on the juggernaut called Salman Khan. While the quantum of his sentence had been set at five years of jail time, and a Rs 10,000 fine, it all depends upon whether or not Salman’s lawyers are able to get bail/clear their appeal before the Rajasthan High Court closes for the day at 5 pm.

For live updates on the Salman Khan black buck poaching case, click here

While Salman’s immediate future isn’t clear, what is certain is that Bollywood will suffer a dent in its economic activity when it pertains to projects the megastar is involved in. If the worst were to happen — meaning that Salman will have to serve his jail tenure — then it would be another blow to an industry that is already suffering under piracy, streaming services, and Hollywood superheroes.

Why is that?

Salman Khan remains the only star from the current era who can easily guarantee a great opening at the box office. It says a lot about his stature among the current crop of actors when Shah Rukh Khan failed miserably with his Jab Harry Met Sejal and Aamir Khan’s Secret Superstar struggled to reach a respectable figure in the Indian market (its China collections of course, are a different story). In the past few years, Salman has yet to encounter such a dismal situation — even his “below-par” films (Jai Ho and Tubelight) both managed to cross the Rs 100 crore mark. Salman remains the only actor to have delivered three films in the past four years which managed to earn over Rs 300 crore at the box office.

Salman now has four films lined up — namely, Race 3, Bharat, Kick 2 and Dabangg 3 — and a TV game show, Dus Ka Dum. While Bharat, Kick 2, and Dabangg 3 are yet to go on the floors, Race 3 is on the verge of completion and only a small part of the shooting remains. Salman has already shot the promos of Dus Ka Dum which happens to be a tent pole show for the Sony network and is being relaunched in a new avatar after a gap of almost a decade.

The economic ramifications in the event these films are unable to reach fruition or if their scheduled release date is extended, are many. Though a major portion of Race 3 has already been shot, in case the film is not able to meet its deadline of an Eid release, it will only amount to losses for its producers (Salman is also co-producing the film). The potential of a Salman Khan film milking money at the box office is maximum during the Eid period. Any change in its release date is bound to make the producers poorer by few crores and the same domino effect will be reflected in the distribution and exhibition sector. Similarly, if the Dus Ka Dum launch date were to be postponed it will only entail losses for the network, as a TV show requires bulk booking both in terms of number of technicians and shooting floors for a maximum period of time. With the verdict of Jodhpur Court, the infrastructure that has already been hired to can the show will now only be leased for an extended period — over and above the already existing booking. Salman was to jump on to the shoot of Dus Ka Dum immediately after wrapping his portion for Race 3, but that will now have to wait for a while.

Bharat, Dabangg 3 and Kick 3 are films which have only been announced — work has not yet started on them. But in this day and age, even announcing films and getting the pre-production in place is a herculean task. Ali Abbas Zafar, director of Bharat, is currently busy location hunting for the film which involves shooting in few countries. This means that the money flow from the producer’s coffers has already begun even before the start of actual shooting. Needless to say, Kick 2 and Dabangg 3 are big ticket films scheduled for next year and thus demand huge amounts of preparation. One must not forget that such films are announced only after a major part of the pre-production is done with.

While promoting Hichki, Rani Mukerji had interacted with Salman and sought to know his “Hichki moment”. Salman confessed to her that at the beginning of his career he used to be very casual about his work but now he has changed, and takes it very seriously. Box office results will vouch for Salman’s statement. It was with the release of Prabhu Deva’s Wanted that Salman changed gears and with Dabangg reached full throttle — which marked the metamorphosis in the trajectory of his film career. After the mega success of Dabangg, Salman transformed completely in terms of selection of films and barring an occasional hiccough here and there, has largely managed to hit bull’s eye at the box office with his every outing. This is remarkable in an industry where even the veterans are unable to crack the formula of a film’s success at the box office.

It’s common knowledge that the most popular actor among technicians of the industry happens to be Akshay Kumar. The reason they cite is very simple: Akshay does as many as four films in a year, so the chances of them being employed and getting work are high. The current avatar of Salman comes very close to this facet of Akshay Kumar where volumes are concerned. In the upcoming months, while Shah Rukh Khan has only Zero to his credit, Aamir Khan is yet to announce a film and is busy with YRF’s Thugs of Hindostan. Contrast this with Salman who has as many as four films with proper release dates coupled with a TV show. Needless to say, the technicians sing paeans for Salman as well.

The absence of Salman from the horizon of Bollywood for a period is bound to spell disaster for single screen theatres which look forward eagerly to his every release. His absence will leave a crater at the box office, which in all possibility seems unlikely to be filled by any star from the present lot.