Salman Khan the King

He is Bollywood's original bad boy. But two decades after his debut — and debacles—his original image has paled in front of his newly acquired status— that of a phenomenon and the most sought after actor in Hindi cinema. Earlier known for giving flops after a mega hit, now not match the first week collection of his "Dabangg", but Salman's message is loud and clear—he's got his act together after crossing the age of 40, a threshold that most actors dread. How else does one explain the fact that "Ready" was widely panned by critics but took an extraordinary opening at the box office and continues to sustain itself both in single screens and multiplexes? Says trade analyst Vajir Singh, "We're seeing a new trend here. Earlier, multiplexgoers weren't interested in masala entertainers, but now they are. When "Wanted" released, it got maximum single screen audience as it was a mass-oriented film, but " Dabangg" was patronised by both multiplexgoers and the singleplex audience. It all began with "Ghajini", but it was "Wanted" that really kicked off the trend of wholesale entertainment masala movies. The deal was sealed by Salman's own film "Dabangg"."

Critics feel that Salman is unpredictable. A trade pundit said, "Right after "Wanted", Salman had two big flops in "Main Aur Mrs Khanna" and " Salman had only two hits —"No Entry" in 2005 and "Partner" in 2007." Filmmaker always been underrated as an actor. Although Salman gives the impression of being nonchalant, he has always taken himself seriously as an actor The fact is that the negatives in his lives have not affected his fan following, the audiences love him too much." Dhawan also believes Sallu is the Rajinikanth of Bollywood. "Salman Khan is like Rajinikanth, you cannot keep him tied to the script. Like Rajini, he improvises his scenes. Since he is a writer's son and a writer himself, he has helped me with scenes. Salman's emphasis on doing things in style and having dialogues with flair comes from his father. Salman the actor is a giver. In fact, there have been times when has given away his scenes to other actors. He has been the most easy actor to work with and is the best entertainer we have today." Dramatic past