Bollywood film Om Shanti Om brought in about $1.8 million at the U.S. box office over the weekend, which puts it at a respectable #11 on the U.S. chart (on only 114 screens). It’s certainly the highest U.S. opening for a Bollywood film I’ve seen in recent years; it may be the highest ever (anyone know for sure?). The film also did very well in India and other markets, coming in ahead of the Tom Cruise war flick, Lions for Lambs, internationally.
Serious cinephiles (and some not-so-serious ones) have reviewed the film and dissected its merits and flaws. But the director, Farah Khan, has essentially credited the film’s success to one thing — Shah Rukh Khan’s exposed torso:
“The entire credit for the film’s success goes to Shah Rukh,” director Farah Khan told Reuters over phone on Sunday. “He is the film’s main attraction and the shirtless song is definitely one of the main reasons for the film’s hit. It is the scene to watch out for.” The bare-chested act by the 42-year-old actor who underwent rigorous training sessions to develop a six-pack, has helped the song “Dard-E-Disco” reach the top of the charts across television channels and FM radio stations. (link)
See the following hard-hitting report from Star News, for a more behind-the-scenes look at Shah Rukh’s abs:
The segment opens in Hindi, but after about 30 seconds there are English subtitles. It’s worth staying at least until Shah Rukh makes that comment about his cleavage (!); there’s also a sneaky little insinuation about Karan Johar there at the end.
I was scandalized when I saw the poster on Newark Avenue in Jersey City.
Certainly, they had their own reasons for having this “item number” there. SRK has just stooped down to the lowest!
I’m not surprised by the box office numbers. I think it could be due to “alternative” types of marketing. My cousin told me the SASO somehow had the movie brought to UC Davis and shown in Chem 194 – all legit. I was surprised to hear that a current movie would be shown on a movie campus.
I saw clips of the fab-ab scene on Namaste America this weekend and he is ripped! I remember thinking, damn he looks good for a 42-year old! You have to give him props for the work he put in to look like that.
Certainly, they had their own reasons for having this “item number” there. SRK has just stooped down to the lowest!
Hey, six pack abs are nothing to sniff at with a 42 year old man. The film may not be “art,” but the abs at least are … sculpted?
11? Wow.
Also when I saw the commercials showing his ripped abs on B4U, I was convinced that it must’ve been either body paint or CGI. So I guess, props to him. He still creeps me out. 🙂
snort real desis prefer a single ghee tub to a six pack. it shows off the hair better.
Also, wasn’t Saawariya supposed to be the big one in the U.S. this weekend? I guess Sanjay Leela Bansali is sitting in a corner crying somewhere, some-big-American-company (I forget which) distributor and all.
Finally let me state that I love that Indians are so much more forthright about using body parts to sell stuff.
Amardeep,
I read somewhere that the whole movie is a spoof on the Indian film industry. The Shahrukh item song including the dancing style to the bare torso are his take on Hrithik Roshan and his Kaho Na Pyaar hai routine and Hrithik oft exposed body.
Brown:
You meant Salman Khan, surely. That’s the guy whose bare torso has been seen more times on screen than Marylin Monroe’s cleavage in a short white dress.
Anantha,
I think I read Hrithik but I may be wrong, it is something to do with mocking the dancing style and Hrithik in Dhoom 2, I will try and find the link if I can.
Funny – I thought the movie was great but the only thing I hated was Dard e Disco and his chest! He looks so creepy in that song, I had to stare at everything else but him!
AMardeep,
SRK and Karan Johar have been having great fun at the insinuations (about their supposed relationship) for a while now. If there is one thing I love about SRK, it is his self-effacing humour.
Props to Farah Khan for being forthright:
Bwa..ha..ha ! Please stop this silly Charrukh Kann vs Tom Cruise comparison. Charrukkh Kann is nowhere near Tom Cruise or any other Hollywood actor in acting, looks, versatilty or talent. Lions for Lambs is not one of Cruise’s better movies anyway.
No one can or will ever equal Hollywood in Worldwide popularity & capability. Almost all the Top 100 movies are Hollywood productions.
http://www.imdb.com/boxoffice/alltimegross?region=world-wide
haven’t seen the movie, but deepika padukone sure is lovely. indian tv gossip links her to mahendra singh dhoni.
You have to give him props for the work he put in to look like that.
what other job does he have? Plus it’s easy when you have trainers at your beck and call, telling you what to do.
Ooo. Linky-Winky. that’s hawtt.
Don’t know about her, but I used to worship her dad. He still reamins one of my all time heroes.
You are right about Prakash quizman, a very good friend of mine used to train under him and used to play doubles for India with Jaseel Ahmed.
SRK needs to lay off the steroids. Even though this picture has been photoshopped to the hilt:
SRK abs
it really looks as if he’s taking steroids, His facial features have changed (note his new jawline). Also, in some interviews where you can see his hands close up, his fingers are weirdly buff. He’s a small guy who was fit to begin with. Now this bulk is appearing in strange places.
Wow – I didn’t think Indian men were genetically capable of getting a six-pack. I guess that should be encouraging, although it does blow a hole in my excuse.
This guy is only popular because of that Dubai mafia. Either that or Indian women have some really bad taste. Seriously he looks like a rodent.
Amardeep,
I’ve been anxiously waiting for your review of OSO! Is it forthcoming? We haven’t had movie review from you in long time.
Amardeep, I’ve been anxiously waiting for your review of OSO! Is it forthcoming? We haven’t had movie review from you in long time.
Ava, I haven’t seen it yet — we couldn’t get a babysitter for the night we might have been able to go last weekend. Indeed, the slowdown in my filmi reviews mainly has to do with being the father of a 1 year old… It’s hard to get time to go see these things; we have become more of a DVD renting household.
“Don’t know about her, but I used to worship her dad. He still reamins one of my all time heroes.”
concur:)
Anyone else hear “When Doves Cry” when they saw the bath tub scene? No? Just me? Ok…
He says in this film he shows his “bottom half”. Wonder if he means bottom half of his chest or what?
The part about exposing his “cleavage” was weird.
It is obvious I hope to all of you. SRK is going down hill, near retirement, he has to pull these stunts, try to look younger with a six pack etc.. in the movie he kinda looks like he needs some food, way to skinny.. and he dosent look that good anymore , if he did in the first place. way too hyped.
now if your talking about Hrithik Roshan.. its a different story.. that man, single handedly, created a fitness boom in India, turned gay america interested in bollywood, reinspired afghan, russian, iranian and brazilian interest in Indian cinema, and lastly.. began the end of Shahrukh khans career.
I didn’t find the part about “exposing his cleavage” weird at all (unless you take it literally) – it’s SRK poking fun at women and film industry (BW or HW). If you haven’t seen many of the BW movies of the 70s-80s, this movie will probably be lost on you – as it makes fun of BW movies, not unlike FK’s earlier excellent movie “Main Hoon Naa.” The operative word here is spoof.
And for those who think he can’t act, I can recommend some movies like Maya Memsaab, Chak De!India, Paheli, Swades, Kabhie Haan Kabbhie Naa or some of his earlier works. Yup he chooses to do movies that don’t challenge him much in the acting department. Doesn’t matter to me. shrug
No one can or will ever equal Hollywood in Worldwide popularity & capability. Almost all the Top 100 movies are Hollywood productions.
Yook, all you’re saying is that advertising & marketing can sell crap. Nothing new here. And if you get a hard-0n based on this, more power to you. Different strokes and all that jazz. 😉
i dont know if it was Hrithik Roshan that can be credited with that….if any one person can be credited with such a thing, i would say Salman Khan
I went to go see this over the weekend, but it was sold out. I saw Saawariya instead, which was ok, but not that great. The comment about showing off his “bottom half” reminds me that Ranbir Kapoor really does show off his behind in that movie.
Saawariya, in Tamil, means “are you dying?”. Seems appropriate for the torture of a Sanjay Leela Bhansali movie.
Well you do get a glimpse of SRK’s butt crack in the song – I had to actually turn to my husband and ask – did you see what i just saw? Not my cup of tea.
what she REALLY said.
😉
i have no idea if he was using steroids or not, but i saw another interview where he stated that he was using diet pills and other dietary supplements. i wonder if that means weight loss pills or something? (i have no idea.)
but when i look at srk now… i think he looks gross. i used to think he was cute. i think it was mostly his personality/how he was typecast in his past films. now, he’s completely different-looking. and way too buff–to the point where it looks completely fake (as well as a bit frightening) to me. it looks unnatural.
When we all can take extra courses and degrees to do better in our career then why can’t SRK have great abs to promote HIS career ?? Looking good on screen is what he does then why can’t he try and do whatever he can to get more success? I don’t care whether he took steroids or spent 3 months in gym. He looks good on screen and that’s it.
I think people who are more interested in knowing abt his steroid use are just trying to find something wrong with SRK. Its just that all guys below 40 are blown away by this 42 yr old. Sour grapes.
This is one of those strange English expressions. You work out really hard and you get a metaphorical six-pack, but if you now drink a few six-packs regularly you only get a beer belly. Seems so unfair that the contents of a six-pack are antithetical to the existence of six-pack abs.
the only individuals with whom you can ID steroid usage easily (from eye-balling) are competitive bodybuilders who compete in non-tested competitions (IFFB pros).
why is it that when anybody at an advanced age (or out of the blue) acquires more definition, mass or simply gets down to a ridiculously low body-fat percentage, do the cries of ‘steroids’ come out? It’s certainly not easy, but I imagine SRK had the best dietitians and trainers available (and also the genetic background for symmetry). If you stick to the plan, any of the goals I mentioned are achievable.
Also, it’s growth-hormone that affects organ, bone and muscle tissue growth (barry bonds’ head, etc) and not steroids. Getting to a low body-fat percentage will make your facial bones stand out that much more, especially if they were prominent to begin, so you’re going to look like a gargoyle with or without ‘roids.
I remember reading that he was cramping acutely because he’d sworn off all carbs and was OD’ing on proteins. Here’s a link.
That said, his gaunt sceptre right now looks quite hideous. I saw a photo of him cheering for the Indian team in the current one-day series, and his face was scarier than a Giuliani mask at Halloween.
“My bottom half” would be an excellent way to introduce one’s same-sex spouse at social gatherings. Unless one is not really on top of things.
Well, one can’t really do one’s work effectively without bottom-half handlers.
I recall seeing him cheer the indian team on at the 20/20 final and he was clapping in a very non-cricket-fan way–almost as if his hands would disintegrate.
I have been on that kind of diet in the past and it definitely is a possibility, however i’m pretty sure his trainer was too lazy or under too short a time-frame to determine his carb-sensitivity. There are some people who can eat up to 400g of carbs daily and still get down to six-pack baring body-fat levels.
I think we can all have an evil chuckle over the mental image of SRK reaching for a piping-hot roti, only to have his hand cruelly smacked away by his eagle-eyed trainer.
Don’t steroids (at least some of them) include the growth hormones usually not found in 40+ year old?
Rahul, ole buddy! Were you etherised upon a table or just taking some time off?
No. GH and anabolic steroids are totally different. GH can stimulate faster recovery from workouts and has other benefits for older men (older than SRK) that you can read on any website for an “anti-aging” clinic, but it won’t make you any stronger–which is what anabolic steroids do for you (if you workout like a crazy fool). GH comes from a different gland and steroids are generally aimed at upping testosterone (also not part of GH’s chemical structure but often stacked with it by BBs looking for a complete cycle).
you can take steroids for years, and while your muscles will get bigger, your internal organs and bones will remain as is. Not the case with GH–there are a number of BBs who started on the steroid trail and got bigger, then added GH and acquired gigantic, unsightly bellies with no apparent fat.
my location sucks. As a college student in a small isolated college town, it would be nice if there was a place i could watch these movies that wasn’t over an hour away. Such theaters don’t seem to exist, and I don’t have any way to get to the further ones. Sad times, as I was really looking forward to seeing those abs on the big screen…
Just wanted to add more thing. The whole world knows that Pam Anderson has implants and her boobs are not real BUT STILL all men are crazy abt her. Right? In the same way, we women don’t care how SRK got his abs. He looks good and his abs look great 🙂 Paisa vasool. Hope Aamir Khan is next in line to take off his shirt :))
I have been too busy murdering and creating to have time for you and time for me. But, now I am come from the dead to tell you all.
48 ·”I have been too busy murdering and creating to have time for you and time for me. But, now I am come from the dead to tell you all.”
And would it have been worth it, after all? Remember, Rahul, someday you will grow old, and you shall wear the bottoms of your trousers rolled, and then you will question your absence from SM.
On a serious note, I look forward to reading your witty comments once again.
Word! He looked like a desi version on Michael Jackson, a.k.a. Mai-ka-lal Jai-kishen…