Will Dabangg 3's run-of-the-mill content be another blip in Salman Khan's career?

No more are Salman Khan’s ventures reserved for the Eid holiday. Christmas is his new release haven. However, can his next film Dabangg 3 turn out to be a big success just like his previous Christmas release Tiger Zinda Hai?

While the buzz for Dabangg 3 looks strong, only time will tell if the film will make it big at the box office. However, the film’s trailer sends out the signal that probably stardom will overpower content once again for a Salman Khan venture. That is something we saw for his last few offerings such as Bharat, Race 3 and Tubelight.

Bharat and Race 3 told us that no matter who the star is, the audience will not come to the theatres if the story on the big screen is compelling. On its home turf, both Race 3 and Bharat turned out to be big disappointments with revenue of Rs 166 crore and Rs 197 crore, respectively, and with a budget of Rs 185 crore and Rs 240 crore, respectively.

But it was the 2017 release Tubelight that sparked the debate about if Khan was a safe bet for festive releases. Tubelight’s fall resulted in huge losses for single screens. The film which was made at Rs 135 crore, could earn Rs 114 crore.

If the festive releases are kept in mind, then Eid has not been fruitful for Salman Khan in the last few years. However, Christmas did bring cheer with Tiger Zinda Hai collecting Rs 339 crore.

While holidays and festivals do attract more people to theatres and audiences, other than the usual markets, also join in to enjoy a film, it is the film’s content that decides its destiny.

According to film trade experts, the Khans of Bollywood are known to opt for safer projects with big production houses. However, when the content is weak, even the Khans cannot save a sinking ship -- not anymore.

Salman Khan’s Dabangg 3 may have all the run-of-the-mill ingredients for a successful film -- item song, catchy dialogues, a south antagonist and Khan himself. Yet, it is the string story line that will hold movie-goers in theatres and also result in strong word of mouth -- an important factor especially during the holiday period.

This year has turned out better than the last in terms of box office revenues. But, that does not mean that the industry can do without the big collections coming in from upcoming films like Dabangg 3 and Akshay Kumar-starrer Good News.

The box office collection for 2019 till the end of November, has gone up 22 percent compared to earnings for the whole of 2018. Contributions from December offerings are expected to take it up to 35 percent. Now what remains to be seen is whether Dabangg 3 will score big and add strong numbers to this year’s overall box office revenue.