SALMAN KHAN being one of Hindi cinema’s biggest power hitters of the modern era means it must be a dream come true to be launched by him into Bollywood.
But pretty much all of those aspiring hopefuls who have been backed by the actor in some way seem to have been plagued by a nightmarish curse. The most recent recipient of that jinx has been his niece Alizeh Agnihotri. Although he was not officially involved as a producer, the actor had put his entire weight behind her debut movie Farrey. It was produced by Salman’s fellow family members, including his sister Alvira Khan.
Unfortunately, the actor’s involvement did little to help the movie, which despite receiving decent reviews played to near empty cinema halls. The young actress added to the many names Salman has backed across the years, who have had failed launches. She will be hoping that her career doesn’t follow in the footsteps of others associated with her unlucky uncle. It is fascinating to look at some of his new talent failures across the years.
In terms of films he has produced, he launched Sooraj Pancholi and Athiya Shetty in 2015 action-drama Hero. Despite being a remake of a 1983 blockbuster, the flop film was the beginning of the end of its two lead stars making any kind of mark in Hindi cinema. Neither of the young hopefuls did anything noteworthy after that disastrous debut.
Salman then tried to launch Warina Hussain and his own brother in law Aayush Sharma in 2018 romantic comedy Loveyatri: A Journey of Love, but that performed even more poorly than Hero. Five years later and neither of the young leads have done anything successful in Hindi cinema. The following year, he tried to launch newcomers Zaheer Iqbal and Pranutan Bahl, daughter of actor Mohnish Bahl, in his home production Notebook, but that was also a box office stinker despite being a remake of successful 2014 Thai film The Teacher’s Diary.
Popular TV personality Shehnaaz Gill had made a winning debut in Punjabi cinema and then pretty much destroyed any chance of a frontline Bollywood career by being launched with Salman’s flop home production Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan, with a forgettable role.
Then there are fascinating stories of others he helped give a big break to, when not officially a producer. It was widely accepted that he launched Sneha Ullal in Lucky: No Time For Love (2005) for the petulant reason of her resembling his ex-girlfriend Aishwarya Rai. The film, which was produced by his brother Sohail Khan, of course failed, as did the lookalike’s subsequent career.
There was a similar story with Zareen Khan, who he launched in 2010 historical Veer because she reportedly resembled his ex-girlfriend Katrina Kaif. The disastrous film also set her up for a failed career.
After struggling in regional cinema, Daisy Shah was launched in his family’s home production Jai Ho as a lead, but the movie underperformed and set her up for a forgettable frontline career.
Even though Sonakshi Sinha’s debut in the actor’s home production Dabangg (2010) was massively successful, she too wasn’t safe from the Salman curse. The daughter of Bollywood legend Shatrughan Sinha started on a high, but then saw her career go down a steady road towards mediocrity and unsuccessful film projects.
He had even tried to help launch his actor brother-in-law Atul Agnihotri as a director with Dil Ne Jise Apna Kahaa (2004) and Hello (2008), but both films failed. Atul has never directed any more movies after those two turkeys. Salman also attempted to launch his brothers Arbaaz Khan and Sohail Khan as leading men but failed spectacularly on both fronts.
So, Alizeh Agnihotri is not alone in having a dreadful film launch connected to Salman. She will be hoping the curse doesn’t follow her in subsequent films as it has done with so many others.
Migrants in a dinghy crossing the English Channel
Sunder Katwala
