Bollywood Baatein: Radhe-Your Most Forgettable Bhai

I am not a Salman Khan fan. But I can recognize star power when I see it. And he has it in abundance.

Many times, during the awful Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai I could imagine what the reaction of the Salmaniacs would have been to his crowd-wooing fights with villains who look like they haven’t showered for days, if not weeks.

They would have gone wild! No, Radhe is clearly not meant for the OTT platform. It is a big-screen experience, albeit an exceptionally characterless big-screen experience which even the most diehard Salmaniac would find hard to condone, let alone appreciate.

It is a monstrous tragedy to see a superstar become a victim of his own image. Salman Khan has the power to bring the audiences in. He also has the rare power to shape reforms and change tastes in the movie-going public. He only has to stand in front of the camera and his fans cheer. It doesn’t matter what he says or does. They are with him.

Isn’t it a crying shame to expend such gigantic star power in illimitably rancid films like Prem Rattan Dhan Payo, Dabangg 3 and Radhe Your Most Wanted Bhai? All the three films I mentioned is directed by people who are Salman’s friends for a very long time. But the collaboration has clearly run its course. In fact, I’d say if Prabhudeva’s Wanted in 2008 had brought Salman back into the race after a string of flops, Radhe is almost like a deathknell to Salman’s career.

If he wants to preserve his superstardom, he must work with new directors with a fresh vision. This is why Sultan is Salman’s finest film and performance in recent years. It was the film where Salman took risks with his image under the supervision of a director, Ali Abbas Zafar, who knew how to extract the best from Salman.

But the same director failed with Bharat. Because Salman stopped listening to the director. He began to direct the director. The same happened with Kabir Khan who got such a brilliant and moving performance out of Salman in Bajrangi Bhaijaan and fell flat with Tubelight.

Both Ali Abbas Zafar and Kabir Khan fled from Salman’s durbar.

Then there is the tragic case of the aborted Insha Allah, with the director who knows how to work magic with Salman. It was a matter of great excitement when Sanjay Leela Bhansali decided to team up with Salman for yet another special film after Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. But then Salman had changed. He wanted to take over the project. He wanted to dictate the cast. He wanted Daisy Shah and Sushmita Sen for an item song. The final straw was when Salman wanted Bhansali to shift the release date of Insha Allah from Eid 2021 to Christmas. His argument being that Radhe was more the kind of film his fans, the Salmaniacs wanted to see for Eid.

That was it. Bhansali aborted the project. What a pity! I think this film would have resurrected Salman as an actor. He should sort out his differences with Bhansali and revive the project. Insha Allah, in the future he will stop working with yes-men and team up with directors who know how to get the best out of him.

Because if he continues in his comfort zone, the audience will get progressively uncomfortable with his stagnant performances.