Why ‘Chennai Express’ Needs To Be A Gamechanger?

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Chennai Express Poster

A lot of sentiments have been doing the rounds of late, when it comes to being an SRK fanatic, especially after the Jan 2^nd 2013 release ofChennai Express posters. For a man who starred in movies like Baazigar, Darr, Kal Ho Naa Ho, Chak De India and others which have received thorough critical acclamations, only statistics showing box office success do not define the quality of movies. But we will first see how his recent films fared at the gross earnings department.

Ra.One went in to gather a sum of around $35911700 by December 1^st, 2011. Don 2 had gross earnings of $3680350 by Feb 2^nd, 2012.Jab Tak Hai Jaan secured a good $26524680 by Dec 18^th, 2012. These are not exactly poor statistics. Though critically speaking, Jab Tak Hai Jaan failed to be a ground breaking piece, knowing it is the last Yash Chopra project and had music by none other than A. R. Rahman. Going by popular canteen – rumours,  Anushka Sharma and Ladakh – Kashmir  ended up being the sole highlights in the movie that probably aimed at being an epic tale of love.

But fans would like to know why recent Shah Rukh Khan movies failed short of creating the kind of buzz which movies like My Name Is Khan emanated, and why in an industry where almost all hyped movies managed to make a 100 crores in 2011 and 2012, take examples of Rowdy Rathore, Ek Tha Tiger, etc. keeping in mind that critics had humongous questions about the scripts of both these films, an SRK movie did not add the kind of difference we expected from the industry’s best salesperson and someone like Yash Chopra. Question is, is it safe to say, that while even the perfectionist, Aamir Khan’s Talaash suffered strong mockery due to the bhoot-twist, Shah Rukh Khan’s movies have, of late, just been mindless releases that fetch the house money? That is to say least about how Jab Tak Hai Jaan’s title poster drew inspiration from the French action flick Forces Speciales. Ra.One too had a lot to copy from the Batman Begins, poster wise.

Deepika Padukone, the leading lady in Chennai Express, starred in Cocktail that had gross earnings of $1027121 by 22^nd, July 2012. Her other films recently were Desi Boyz that earned $1066167 by Dec 11, 2011 and Aarakshan that earned $342801 in the first weekend. None of the films had over the top earnings and neither received any acclamation for script or acting from the critics.

Back to the Khans, thing is, stars like SRK, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan have  a very devoted fan base who are fanatics for too long to not be a fan anymore. So while trying to defend Shah Rukh as we knew him and not saying much about  miserable choice in movies, including disasters like Dulha Mil Gaya, Billu, Always Kabhi Kabhi, etc, (puhleez don’t give the guest-appearance excuse, an actor’s always an actor), here are some reasons why Chennai Express needs to be a game changer, every way possible :

• Latest Chennai Express poster makes you think of a certain Joker, starring Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha as leads, poster. Can Shah Rukh even afford the speculation that Chennai Express can be something remotely close to Joker (the movie got lost in the crowd of epic bad cinemas, had gross earnings of around $130000)? Also, let us not forget this will be Rohit Shetty’s first film without Ajay Devgnafter box office successes like Golmaal, Bol Bachchan, Singham etc.
• Deepika Padukone has movies like Rana, Kochadaiyaan and Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani lined up alongsideChennai Express and we all know how badly she needs to prove that there is more to her than hot pants. Simply speaking, she needs to show her worth as an actress, especially when Bollywood has gone totally experimental and thus have opened its arms to new comers with apt acting skills (let’s talk Parineeti Chopra, Yami Gautam, Illeana D’Cruz).
• Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone’s previous venture Om Shanti Om, a Farah Khan film, was huge and had gross earnings of $3597372 within a month from its release in 2007. We will only stick to statistics and not discuss how Farah Khan’s tribute to the 70s felt dull and lifeless and Shah Rukh Khan looked as if he had added 20 years, pardon the exaggeration, to his age in the make – up room! (Aamir Khan looked weird as a college student in 3 Idiots too but the script, the music and the acting saved it all!) So 5 years later none of the leads can afford to make a movie that earns lesser than Om Shanti Omespecially at a time, when so many movies are entering the 100 crore club!

All said and done, ardent fans wish to see the Shah Rukh Khan who in a 1996 Doordarshan interview with Rajeev Shukla made the host proclaim in front of a good old 90’s India how “he (SRK) came, he saw and he conquered”. We look forward to Shah Rukh Khan not taking his fans for granted as hopes rest in finding out how much Chennai Express will add to the list of the King’s conquests.