“What controversy? For my fans I am Sultan!” must be what Hindi film star Salman Khan wants to tell the media and to all those who have been crying hoarse and asking him to apologise.

Just a couple of weeks ago he was embroiled into a controversy due to his comment at Sultan’s pre-release press meet. Talking about his experience of working for his latest film where he plays a role of a kushti pehlwan (wrestler), Salman had said, “When I used to walk out of the ring after the shoot, I used to feel like a raped woman!” 

A crass and insensitive comment, no doubt. Initially, some thought it might be a publicity stunt for the film. But later when his father, writer Salim Khan, apologised on his son’s behalf, the controversy became the focal point of debates, played on TV and print media. And then doubts were raised about the success of the film.

Sultan is expected to gross over Rs3.2 billion in India alone and become an all time super-hit

Do controversies matter? More so to one who has become a darling of the nation, like Sallu bhai. And one who has given back-to-back hits. His latest film has already notched a jaw-dropping Rs1.6 billion at the box office, in the first four days of release. The doubts about the hold this Khan has on his fans have been cleared. The entire Hindi film industry is in a celebratory mood. The film is expected to gross over Rs3.2 billion in India alone and become an all time super-hit. 

Salman has been courting controversy since the very beginning, and behaving as he thinks fit. There is the famous hit-and-run case where he allegedly drove his car into a bakery in the middle of the night, killing a pavement dweller and injuring three others. Though acquitted by the Indian High Court, the case has reached the Supreme Court, following an appeal made by the Maharashtra Government.

The media made a huge noise when he was accused of allegedly physically abusing his then girlfriend, Ashwairya Rai, on the set of the film Chalte Chalte. Then later, for killing a Blackbuck during the shoot of the film Hum Saath Saath Hain in Rajasthan, he received a one-year jail term (Blackbucks are revered among Rajasthan’s Bishnoi community). He was later released on bail. Interestingly, whenever he has sparked controversy, daddy Salim Khan has stepped in to apologise on behalf of his son.

The 50-year-old film star has also proved that age has not affected his magnetic pull among the audience and his fans who still consider him the cute 20-something Prem of Maine Pyar Kiya, (1989), the film through which he arrived on the scene. In later years, he cemented his popularity with films like Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and others.

And with the last five films — Wanted, Dabangg, Dabangg 2, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, Salman Khan, has proved that he is the real Sultan of the single screens, multiplexes and a veritable minting machine. He has become adept in the art of pleasing his fans and converting their adulation into roaring financial success.

One who has been inviting controversies, Salman, addressed lovingly as Bhai, appears unaffected by the storm his antics create. His gait, the tone as he addresses the media, the haughty attitude when he walks into an event, all scream of arrogance. Yet for his fans, he can do no wrong. The industry prefers to call him as “Yaaron ka yaar” and comes to his aide whenever any trouble brews.

The media goes to town talking about his charity work through his NGO, Being Human: be it helping a terminally-ill child getting medical treatment or helping poor farmers of Maharashtra. Incidentally, Being Human Clothing is a fashion retail brand, backed by the Salman Khan Foundation which reported a turnover of Rs1.45 billion and has presence in countries like Sri Lanka, South Africa, the USA, Canada and the Middle East.

Sultan reminds us of a part of Salman’s life; there is a scene which perhaps sums it up. Repenting at the lost glory mainly due to his own actions, Sultan starts crying bitterly with remorse writ large. A happy-go-lucky Sultan Ali Khan (Salman Khan) of Haryana (overlook the pathetic Haryanvi accent) believes and says, “Manne lage hain, Angrezi main larki zaldi patati hai.” He meets the only woman wrestler Aarfa (Anushka Sharma) and falls in love. To woo her, he enters the wrestler’s akhara (ring), trains and goes on to win many national and international awards, including an Olympics gold medal. Of course, he weds Aarfa, but later loses his glory, his girl, the fame and goes on to lose interest in everything (in real life there were years when every film Sallu made flopped, till director Prabhu Deva with Wanted came along).

In Sultan, the change happens when Aakash Oberoi (Amit Sadh), a sports enthusiast and entrepreneur, who wants to bring mixed martial arts contests to India, enters the scene. He approaches Sultan, by then a pot-bellied, rotund man to participate in the games. Sultan realises his downfall and how he has let things slide. He decides to get his life back and, of course, film director Ali Abbas Zafar and producer Aditya Chopra of Yash Raj Films can’t let Salman Khan aka Sultan lose.

For once, every film reviewer is going the way of the Bhai fans. Sultan is Salman Khan, and is wonderfully supported by the feisty Anushka.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, July 17th, 2016