As soon as the golden age of Bollywood is mentioned, the names of Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand start circulating on the screen of our mind. It was the same triangle of actors that emerged in the 90s in the form of Aamir, Shah Rukh and Salman Khan and has been ruling Bollywood for nearly 30 years.
It seems that at the time of Khans entry into Bollywood, the Bombay film industry was eager to welcome new faces.
After flourishing in the 50s, the career of the tragedy king and Bollywood showman started to falter by the end of the 60s before Rajesh Khanna’s romantic wave hit the ground with ‘Aradhana’ (1969). In 1976, Dilip Kumar went on a five-year sabbatical and made a grand comeback to the character role with ‘Kranti’. He showed his immense talent in his second innings as well, the best example being ‘Shakti’ (1982).
Bollywood showman Raj Kapoor shifted his focus from acting to producing and directing, where his energies were devoted to launching his sons.
However, during this time and even after that, the romantic image of the star of style could not fade. While Rajesh Khanna was being challenged by Angry Young Men, the evergreen Dev Anand was still singing songs on screen in his Trang. As a hero, no one else has been able to play such a long innings in Bollywood.
Thus, in the 1980s, Amitabh Bachchan’s magic was on the rise, but during this time, two new stars appeared in the form of Aamir Khan and Salman Khan from ‘Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak’ (1988) and ‘Maine Pyaar Kya’ (1989). Bollywood started to shine on the horizon. Another Khan appeared with ‘Deewana’ (1992) and then perhaps no one had any idea that these three Khans would be the kings of the screen for the next three decades.
The immediate reaction to the entry of boxes into Bollywood was that the masses abandoned VCRs and turned to cinemas. The new generation was looking for the images of their dreams in new faces. Now, instead of the social language of the Angry Young Man, the hero was speaking of his own psychological turmoil and individual experiences with love. Before the controversies of the Khans as a whole in the tradition of Hindi cinema, it seems appropriate to take a brief look at their film journey separately.
Mr. Perfect Aamir Khan
Renowned filmmaker and director Nasir Hussain, who played an important role in Asha Parekh and RD Burman’s foray into Bollywood, was Aamir Khan’s uncle. He also wrote and produced modern tragic stories in the style of Laila Majnu and Heer Ranjha to launch his nephew into Bollywood.
Bollywood actors Aamir Khan (L) and Kiara Advani (R) attend an event organized by Small Finance Bank in Mumbai, India on August 11, 2021 (File Photo: AFP)
As soon as it was released on 29 April 1988, ‘Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak’ caused a stir. Aamir Khan and Juhi Chawla rose to the heights of fame overnight.
In the 90s, films like ‘Dil,’ ‘Raja Hindustani,’ ‘Dil Hai Keh Manta Nahin,’ ‘Sarfroosh’ and ‘Earth’ made Aamir’s feet deep in the land of Bollywood.
Lagaan (2001), which was nominated for an Oscar in the foreign film category, was Aamir Khan’s next big, which he also produced. After a break of four years, he made a comeback in 2005 with ‘Mangal Pandey’, after which he was once again seen in ‘Rang De Basanti’ playing a tragic role like ‘Earth’.
Aamir Khan made his directorial debut with ‘Taare Zameen Par’ (2007) which was loved by the public and experts alike. Aamir Khan gained fame as ‘Mr Perfect’ by playing various roles in films like ‘Three Idiots,’ ‘Gajni,’ ‘Dhoom 3,’ ‘PK’ and ‘Dangal’.
There is no doubt that compared to Salman and Shah Rukh, Aamir has more diversity in film themes and characters. Aamir Khan, who is trying to imitate Tom Hanks in acting, is going to release his new film ‘Lal Singh Chadha’ in August, which is the Hindi version of Tom Hanks’ classic film ‘Forrest Gump’.
Bollywood’s brother John Salman Khan
It was Salim Javed’s action-packed stories and punchy dialogues that brought Amitabh Bachchan to the screen as the Angry Young Man and opened the door to a new era in Bollywood. Both Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar’s children entered the film industry, but none of them could achieve the same fame as Saleem’s son Salman.
Bollywood actor Salman Khan attends a promotional event in Mumbai on October 16, 2021 (File Photo: AFP)
In 1988, Salman Khan, who played a secondary role in ‘Bewi Ho Tu Esi’, got the opportunity to play the lead role in ‘Maine Pyaar Kya’ the very next year. It was not only the highest-grossing film of the year, but of the entire decade of the 80s.
In the next decade, Salman Khan continued to climb new heights of success. His most successful films in the 90s include ‘Hum Aap Ke Hain Koon,’ ‘Andaaz Apna Apna,’ ‘Karan Arjun’ and ‘Wife Number One’.
The first decade of the 21st century was not a very happy one for Salubhai, during which his moon waxed and waned. However, in the next decade, films like ‘Dabangg,’ ‘Ek Tha Tiger,’ ‘Kick,’ ‘Sultan’ and ‘Tiger Zinda Hai’ took him to new heights of fame and popularity.
King of Romance Shah Rukh Khan
Unlike Aamir and Salman, Shah Rukh Khan did not belong to any famous Bollywood family. Shahrukh, who entered the showbiz arena in the 1980s from a TV series, got a good response from his debut film ‘Deewana’ in 1992. After playing negative roles in ‘Bazigar’ and ‘Dar’, he solidified his romantic image with films like ‘Dil Wale Dulhania Le Jayenge’, ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’ and ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’.
Film stars are hugely influential in India and have millions of followers (AFP).
His films in the last 20 years include ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham’, ‘Devdas’, ‘Chak De India’, ‘My Name Is Khan’ and ‘Chennai Express’.
Three films of Shah Rukh Khan will be released next year.
What is the Controversy of Bollywood Khans in Hindi Cinema?
When Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand started acting, Indian cinema was in its infancy, facing the challenge of paving the ground and laying the foundations. There was a long line of filmmakers and actors.
Today, after 60, 70 years, it seems that Dilip Kumar left the most profound impact on the film industry.
Most of the actors in the film were trained in the theater, where the dialogue in any scene had to be spoken out loud. Dilip Kumar introduced a new trend in acting, separating the film from the theater with his deep observation and slow nature. He pioneered the art of pausing in dialogue and communicating with facial expressions without speaking, the effects of which are equally felt to this day.
In his interview three years ago, Nawazuddin Siddiqui Barmla admits that ‘It is not surprising that Dileep Sahib’s influence is visible in my dialogue delivery, I watched him very carefully (in films) and was influenced.’
Although Raj Kapoor’s acting was nothing but a copy of Charlie Chaplin, but on the thematic level, he turned Hindi cinema upside down. Filming bold scenes in ‘Sangam,’ ‘Mera Naam Joker,’ ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’ and ‘Ram Teri Ganga Meli’, he took risks in a stereotypical society and expressed the freedom of cinema.
These were the foundations on which the responsibility to build the grand edifice rested on the shoulders of subsequent filmmakers and superstars who delivered nothing but disappointment. It seems that to understand the gradual decline and excessive commercialism of Bollywood, it will suffice to study the stardom of Shahrukh, Salman and Aamir who have now turned into mafia by opening their own production companies and for whom Film is a trick rather than an art.
It is not a crime for a filmmaker to think from an economic point of view, but if his inclination is limited to the box office, ignoring themes, content presentation and aesthetic sense, then he is a businessman and not an artist. It seems that for the last two decades, Bollywood has been in the grip of mercenaries whose grip is getting tighter day by day.
Iran’s world-renowned filmmaker Majid Majidi, in an interview, compares Bollywood’s past with the current situation and laments the gradual departure of ‘poetic vision’ and ‘style’. According to him, the spirit of Indian films has been lost somewhere. All the attention has started to focus on making money, which is having a direct impact on the quality of films made in India.’
The unrelenting rush of commercialism in Hindi cinema is not only indirectly but directly related to all three boxes. Khan’s grip on Bollywood filmmaking can be gauged from the fact that five out of five of the highest grossing films in the history of Hindi cinema are Khan’s. ‘Dangal’ (Aamir), ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ (Salman), ‘Secret Superstar’ (Aamir), ‘PK’ (Aamir), and ‘Sultan’ (Salman). Three of these films were produced directly by Khan’s personal companies.
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French director François Truffaut called Amitabh Bachchan a ‘one-man industry’ but Big B’s dominance in the industry was never the same as that of the three boxes. On the one hand, Manmohan Desai used to scold Tenu Anand for interfering in the work of the director of Angry Young Men. Khans, on the other hand, are the final decision makers in choosing their co-stars, musicians and playback singers. In this regard, he has the umbrella of the production companies he has established, which does not allow the scope of stardom to be limited to acting.
When there is a common perception in the industry that even Khanna’s failed films do more business than others’ successful films, then who is the fool who needs to worry about the content and themes.
Three or four production companies like Yash Raj Films, Aamir Khan Films and Salman Khan Films come together to cast a Khan in any first fool script. If Salman is in the lead role, then the shirt-off scene and Shah Rukh’s crying scene must be included, that is his trademark.
Well, promotion starts with the announcement of the film, but once the shooting is complete, marketing becomes a regular frenzy. Today, filmmaking is not as much focused on marketing as it is an effective way to breathe life into a lifeless script.
Meanwhile, think tanks sit down and decide what would be the best release date, according to which multiplex cinemas get screens. The quality of the film takes a back seat, just the film should be a part of the hundred crore club and now the thousand crore club and there is no better choice than Salman, Aamir or Shah to gamble in this race.
The stardom of the Khans adversely affected the balance of the Bombay film industry. One of the Khans of his character collects so much money that an entire film can be made in it. It should come as no surprise that Bollywood’s Khans are paid far more than their Hollywood contemporaries.
According to a report published on August 5, 2015 by the famous American business magazine Forbes, Salman Khan was the highest paid actor compared to Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio. Is there a single film in Salubhai’s track record that can bring him even close to DiCaprio?
Aamir Khan looks a little ahead of other Khans in terms of acting. His films are also better in terms of content, but when it comes to pure acting, Irfan Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Manoj Bajpayee and Pankaj Tripathi are the bearers of the tradition of Dilip Kumar, Balraj Sahni, Sanjeev Kumar and Naseeruddin Shah. Not Aamir Khan.
Will the Bollywood film industry move from hero to actor? Will investors turn to content and untouchable stories instead of chasing big names? Will the amount of attention given to marketing be spent on making the film?
Considering the overall mood of Bollywood, my answer is no. Especially not as long as the three Khans are around.
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