Key Points
The last week of December saw threemajor stars in India pitted against each otherat the box office.Salaar, starringPrabhas and Prithviraj,was up againstDunki, whichwas headlined by Shah Rukh Khan and Taapsee Pannu.Dunki, directed by Raj Kumar Hirani, andSalaar Part 1,helmedby Prashanth Neel, werehighly anticipated, creatingquite the buzzupon their release...
Thisbuzz,however,soon descended into achaoticmudslinging betweenfans from theNorth and Southregarding which film garnered greater success.What could have been the Indian equivalent of the Barbenheimer clash just ended up showing that, when it comes to healthy competition, Indian fans are duds...
Itallstarted off with reportssuggesting that Salaar: Part 1 Ceasefirewouldnotbe showninmajornational chainslikePVR INOX and Miraj Cinemas in the South.Salaars producers, Hombale Films,accused these chainsoffavouringDunki.But on 21 December, the dayDunki premiered, PVR INOxissued a statement confirming that Salaar would be screened in all its theatres across Indiastarting22 December, refuting earliermedia reports...
Especially in the North, fans were clapping back withclaims that Salaarwould not be able tosustain itsbox officeperformanceand that Shah Rukh Khan would recreate his Pathaan and Jawan magic...
We seem to have forgotten how to behave since then.. Had fansunitedtosupportbothfilms,Dunki andSalaarcouldhaveachievedevengreater success, andestablishedan Indian trend in its own right..
