It all started with Dabangg. The film, which released in 2010, was first of Salman Khan’s releases to hit gold during the festival of Eid. After enjoying a superhit run, the subsequent success of Bodyguard (2011) pretty much established that Salman Khan and Eid were now synonymous with each other. However, after back-to-back successes, it all came crumbling down when neither Tubelight (2017) nor Race 3 (2018) worked commercially. No wonder, all eyes are now on Bharat to reverse the trend for Salman Khan.

“It’s been one unbroken streak for Salman Khan once he scored a century with that 100 crore club success. Dabangg, Bodyguard, Ek Tha Tiger, Kick, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Sultan were all Eid releases. Such is the dominance of Salman Khan during Eid that no other film, whether big or small, dares to come in front of his films on the festive occasion. However, Tubelight as well as Race 3 proved to be dampeners,” says an insider.

In fact, Tubelight took the lowest Eid opening for a Salman Khan-starrer since Dabangg and was received poorly at the box-office, prompting even Salman to admit that the release strategy went all wrong for the Kabir Khan directed film. Later, Race 3 was all style and no substance, and even though the start was still right for the film, there wasn't much sustenance. Salman Khan has in fact jokingly mentioned that even his flops go past the 150 crore mark, as was the case with Race 3.

Still from Race 3

“However, the joke can’t be extended any further as even Salman Khan would agree that he needs a big hit with Bharat,” says a trade expert, adding, “You can’t afford to have three successive disappointments on back-to-back Eids. There is a certain dominance that you enjoy when you stamp your name on a festive occasion. One more flop and other superstars may well begin to plan their films on Eid from 2020 onwards.”

Fortunately for the actor, he’s got a dream team in place for Bharat. “Exactly,” the insider adds, “To begin with, the film is directed by Ali Abbas Zafar with whom Salman Khan has delivered two major blockbusters already. Sultan (2016) was an Eid release and scored huge commercially; so much so that it entered the 300 crore club. Later, Salman and Ali Abbas Zafar reunited for Christmas 2017 release Tiger Zinda Hai, which again scored a triple century. With Katrina Kaif in tow, Salman would definitely be aiming to make it three in a row after Ek Tha Tiger and Tiger Zinda Hai.”

However, it would be interesting to see how it all actually turns out, considering the fact that Bharat has a different kind of theme and set up, with a strong patriotic flavor to it.

“The last few Eid successes of Salman Khan like Sultan, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Kick have been hardcore mass commercial affairs. Of course, Bharat is commercial as well but then one waits to see the kind of seeti-taali maar moments in there. Since the film traverses generations — right from the time of Partition to the current times, it could well throw in some surprises as well,” an observer comments.

Salman in the film Tubelight

So far, the year has seen one major money spinner in the form of Uri —The Surgical Strike which was led by relative newcomer Vicky Kaushal. Salman Khan and his fans would certainly be aiming for Bharat to be one up on that.