Four leading men, who had all been written off for various reasons, saw monumental 'comebacks' this year. To the year of Shah Rukh Khan, Rajinikanth, and the Deol brothers!
At least two superstars – who had virtually ruled their film industries in the 90s – had been labeled ‘finished’ prior to 2023. Both are ending the year firmly atop the perch in their respective film industries (the jury is still out for the Megastar or it would have been three). Then there is the film family of heroes, none of whom were in conversation before the year began. And now, nobody can stop talking about them. 2023 was easily the year of second chances and comebacks in Indian cinema. And four men exemplified that. Here’s an year-end toast to the heroes of the year – Rajinikanth, Shah Rukh Khan, Sunny Deol, and Bobby Deol.
How a new generation experienced SRK mania for the first time
Shah Rukh’s previous release before this year was in 2018, and that was Zero, something the star himself would not want to talk much about. His last superhit was four years before that, in Happy New Year. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that an entire generation had not seen why he was called King Khan. His youngest son Abram is one of them. The actor recalled how his older children – Aryan and Suhana – requested him to make big films so that the ‘little one’ could see his father’s superstardom just like they had when they were kids.
And SRK obliged. Pathaan set new benchmarks in box office collection before January ended. Jawan broke those records and more by September. And despite mixed reviews, Dunki is all set to close out the year as a hit. Shah Rukh Khan is back and how! Just how insane his superstardom is can be gauged by the fact that Salman Khan – no less of a star – came out with Tiger 3, a film no worse than Pathaan. It did half as many numbers as Pathaan at the box office. It was an insane example of just how dominant Shah Rukh had become once again. The fact that in the era of mass actioners, he managed to gross Rs 200 crore in a weekend with a drama like Dunki only underlines this fact. SRK 2.0 is only beginning and it would be interesting to see how the 58-year-old capitalizes on it.
Rajinikanth proved why he is the OG Superstar
If Shah Rukh needs any tips on how to maintain one’s stardom after 60, he need only look southwards at Rajinikanth. Just like Shah Rukh, Rajni, too, saw a lull in his 50s but returned with Chandramukhi and Sivaji. His second innings lasted just over a decade when a couple of underperformers (not even flops, mind you) raised questions about his bankability again. At 70, anybody else would have said ‘I have done enough’, and moved on to the so-called character roles. Not Thalaivar, though! He came back with Jailer, which became the highest-grossing film in Tamil Nadu and eventually only the second Tamil film ever to cross Rs 600 crore. At 72, he is delivering industry hits, a feat unheard of (apart from Malayalam cinema where Mammootty does that regularly). But with Jailer, Rajinikanth re-asserted that he still is the epitome of superstar, competing with men half his age.
The Deols remind you that they are still around, and very much in vogue
In between Pathaan and Jawan, there was one other Hindi film that briefly held the record of the highest-grossing Hindi film in India. That was Gadar 2, which re-ignited Sunny Deol’s craze across the country. The man had not given a solo hit in two decades. Nobody was expecting Gadar to do well, let alone break all-time records set by Shah Rukh Khan and SS Rajamouli films. And he did it with good old Pakistan-bashing, chest-thumping patriotism, and lots of Tara Singh action. Between this and Shah Rukh’s multiple hits, it’s like 2001 is here again.
And that was not all for the Deols in 2023. December saw the release of Animal and while Ranbir Kapoor led from the front, a 20-minute appearance was enough for the younger Deol sibling to leave his mark and almost steal the show. His villain Abrar inspired memes, his entry scene became viral, and there were campaigns to bring him back for the sequel. Bobby has not seen this much fanfare in years. The Deols have not been at the front and centre of Bollywood like this for almost 25 years now.
Also ran: Prabhas with his mixed bag
An honourable mention to Prabhas as well! Since Baahubali, he had seen only failure in the form of Saaho and Radhe Shyam. Then the first half of 2023 brought him more doom and gloom in the form of the ill-fated Adipurush. But true to his superstar status, the man turned it around with Salaar, with the help of Prashanth Neel. If only Adipurush had worked, Prabhas would havetruly re-asserted himself. But with just Salaar too, the Rebel Star has proved that he – and his stardom – are here to stay. On to Kalki 2898 AD and 2024!
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 "Sunny Deol, Shah Rukh Khan, Rajinikanth, Bobby Deol")
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