Most successful actor – director pair in Bollywood

Q. Who are the most successful director-actor pairs in terms of box office till today? – Mohammed Shah

A. Post 1990, the most successful actor – director duo in Bollywood are as follows:

• Salman Khan and Sooraj Barjatya – 2 All Time Blockbusters, 1 Blockbuster, 1 Super Hit
• Hrithik Roshan and Rakesh Roshan – 1 All Time Blockbuster, 2 Blockbusters, 1 Super Hit
• Shah Rukh Khan and Aditya Chopra – 1 All Time Blockbuster, 1 Blockbuster, 1 Super Hit
• Aamir Khan and Rajkumar Hirani – 2 All Time Blockbusters
• Salman Khan and Kabir Khan – 1 All Time Blockbuster, 1 Blockbuster

Q. Tell me how much occupancy possible on non-holiday? When two movies release on the same day? – Sandeep

A. It’s difficult to put a number to occupancy when there is a clash. Because the numbers would vary depending on the film. Dilwale vs Bajirao Mastani, Dilwale will lead by a distance. Sultan vs Raees will be a lot more closer, with Sultan probably having the edge. But assuming your question was specific to the upcoming clash, we expect Dilwale to open at 70-75% and Bajirao Mastani to take a 25-30% opening in the morning. After that the word-of-mouth will come into play at big centres. In most circuits, Dilwale will lead by a distance. It’ll also be the only choice at most single-screens. To be very honest, there is no comparison. Only hope for Bajirao Mastani is good to excellent word-of-mouth.

Also, the maximum a film has collecting on a non-holiday is Rs 36 crore – Day 1 business of Dhoom 3. The combined total of both Dilwale and Bajirao Mastani could be in this range.

Q. Can today’s Deepika Padukone’s position in industry be compared with Madhuri dixit and Sridevi’s stardom? Although I know she still has a long way to go – Saurabh Chaudhary

A. When it comes to box office success, Hema Malini was incredibly successful. Madhuri and Sridevi don’t quite match up. All three are arguably the most ‘complete’ actresses of all time. To include Deepika in the same league or not, is something that is debatable. As far as box office success is concerned, Katrina Kaif too has an excellent hit-ratio, most of her films during her golden period were runaway hits at the box office. She doesn’t get her due credit because she isn’t known for her acting skills.

Katrina’s popularity was so high that she managed to deliver a hit (Mere Brother Ki Dulhan), a week after Salman Khan’s Bodyguard released in theatres. Audience came to watch Katrina, not Imran Khan. So as far as popularity is concerned, Katrina is right up there with some of the biggest female stars the industry has ever produced. More praise-worthy when you consider the fact that she is probably the only actress to come from abroad and dominate the industry. Deepika too has been extremely successful. This topic deservers a more detailed article, we will try and publish a Katrina vs Deepika box office analysis soon.

Q. Salman was down and out prior to 2009. How has he suddenly become the No 1 star for over 5 years now. He does often repeat his films and south remakes – only recently he made something different like Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo?- Miz

A. Apart from hard work and dedication, Salman has been choosing the right films and releasing them at the right time. When he was doing South Remakes, those films were working at the box office. When negativity towards remakes began to creep in about a couple of years ago, he moved away from it and signed films like Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo. Like we have mentioned in several other QnA sessions, Salman now looks into every aspect of filmmaking and marketing. He sits with the writer / director during the planning stage, gives his inputs. Works closely with the director during the production stage and even sits on the editing table.

He has been in the industry long enough to know what his audience expects from him, and he has been giving them what they want. In return, they are coming out in big numbers to watch his films. Even his failures like Jai Ho are bigger grossers than successful films of many other actors. His success is truly unreal and unimaginable. Back in the Mid-2000s, when we used to review his films on Friday morning, the occupancy wasn’t even 5% for some of his films. Now, there is a queue 3 hours before the show begins.