BFF-12 Bollywood bad boy back with Eid blockbuster

282

ZCZC

BFF-12

INDIA-ENTERTAINMENT-FILM-BOLLYWOOD-RELIGION-EID-KHAN

Bollywood bad boy back with Eid blockbuster

MUMBAI, June 15, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Bollywood bad boy Salman Khan’s first
movie since his conviction for shooting dead endangered wildlife opened
across India Friday, with analysts predicting box office success for his
latest Eid blockbuster.

It has become a tradition in the Hindi film industry for Khan, one of the
world’s highest-paid actors, to star in the big release on the Muslim holiday
of Eid to mark the end of Ramadan, which begins on Saturday in India.

Action movie “Race 3” is Khan’s fifth straight Eid release and his eighth
since 2010.

It is also his first film since he was handed a five-year jail sentence in
April for shooting dead two rare antelopes known as black bucks during a 1998
hunting trip.

The 52-year-old, who has repeatedly denied killing the animals, spent two
days behind bars before being granted bail.

The bodybuilding actor suffered a rare commercial failure last Eid when
“Tubelight”, a drama set during the 1962 India-China war, flopped at the box
office but analysts expect “Race 3” to soar.

“It’s Salman Khan, it’s Eid weekend and it’s an action franchise that plays
to the galleries and has always been successful. I expect it to make great
money,” film distributor Akshaye Rathi told AFP.

Rathi tipped the movie, which also stars Anil Kapoor and Bobby Deol, to
make one billion rupees ($14.72 million) during its opening weekend, the
benchmark for a surefire blockbuster.

Khan enjoys a cult-like status in star-obsessed India and is one of
Bollywood’s biggest draws, despite a host of controversies.

He was found guilty of culpable homicide for a 2002 hit-and-run which
killed a homeless man sleeping on the pavement in Mumbai, and was sentenced
to five years in prison.

But the verdict was overturned by a higher court in 2015. His acquittal is
being challenged in the Supreme Court.

Khan was last seen in “Tiger Zinda Hai” (Tiger Is Alive), released in
December.

His 2015 Eid release, “Bajrangi Bhaijaan”, sits third in the all-time list
of highest-grossing Hindi language films worldwide, two places ahead of his
2016 Eid offering “Sultan”.

BSS/AFP/RY/12:22 hrs