Baaghi 2 released over a few weeks back has changed the equations as far as the star pecking order is considered. Tiger Shroff has come out of the blue with this film to stand on the tails of the big five (Khans, Akshay Kumar and Hrithik Roshan). In fact it could even be said that it will be Tiger Shroff that will be the driver of the untitled Hrithik Roshan / Tiger Shroff film to be released next October.
Tiger Shroff is at that point where a film has created an image and its up to him to either consolidate this over the next 2-3 years to become that big popular box office star or let the opportunity go and remain the normal star or even fade. If we look back over the last 30 years then these moments have arrived six times and three times they have been taken, twice missed and this one remains to be seen. The difference between Tiger Shroff and his contempories after Baaghi 2 is that he has become a man from a boy but the real battle starts now for him as its the consolidation that is harder than that one big opener which gives the chance to be a huge box office draw.
In 1990 Ghayal hit the screens and gave Sunny Deol that huge action image which he consolidated through the 90's with many super hits and if it was action and the film was poor it still opened to full houses. Ghayal released with Dil which was actually a bigger hit in the first six months of the their respective runs but the business of Ghayal went ahead within the next year as repeat runs did huge business as the image got stronger and stronger with time.
In 1995 Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge came and created another huge box office star. Actually it was not Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge that made Shahrukh Khan the big box office star as he became already big after Baazigar & Darr. After DDLJ release Romantic image was created busting the box office. Action has dominated the box office since the release of Mera Gaon Mera Desh in June 1971 till today and in those 47 years only Shahrukh Khan managed to create a huge fan following without an action image.
Then came the turn of Hrithik Roshan in 2006 as Krrish and Dhoom 2 hit screens within six months and the industry was on a verge of a huge action / dancing star but there was no consolidation. The next five years saw Jodhaa Akbar, Kites, Guzaarish and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, not one film was in the Krrish and Dhoom 2 zone which had created a potential megastar and although films like Krrish 3 and Bang Bang came later, the star draw was not the same as 2006 due to the likes of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and Guzaarish pushing the potential superstar down.
In 2009 came Wanted which was not a huge blockbuster but created this action star image for Salman Khan who until then was more of a romantic hero. He consolidated this image with films like Dabangg and Bodyguard and there was no looking back. These film were not the biggest blockbusters of the career of Salman Khan but created an image where the huge openings materialized which was not the case with some of the earlier bigger hits. A hugely popular box office star was created who till today dominates the ticket windows eight years later.
In 2013 it was the turn of Ranbir Kapoor with Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani putting him on a pedestal with the youth going crazy over and it was just a matter of time when another huge star with youth on his side dominates the box office. But the audience has never seen Ranbir Kapoor in that Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani format again and its been five years and those sort of chances rarely come again. A Raj Kumar Hirani film may turn out to be a bigger hit but its a biopic and it will not be your personality on screen but someone else so the impact is nothing like a Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani for the audience. The mega opening of a poor film like Besharam released five months after Yeh jawwani Hai Deewani was a sign of what could have been but it was not to be.
Now its 2018 and Tiger Shroff is in the position where the guys above were and its about consolidating your image over the next 2-3 years if you can. There will be a lot of trashing by the media when you play to an image especially an action one, the films will not get not get stars and you will be told you are not a actor but you will have to rise above that and go by the facts and figures which never lie. All it takes is a mistake or two and you never get that time back again.
The audience will expect different films but with image intact and it remains to be seen if Tiger Shroff goes the Sunny Deol, Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan way or misses the killer opportunity like Hrithik Roshan or Ranbir Kapoor. There will be stars in the younger generation that see image as a hindrance but it does not work that way as an image still allows you work in other genres as long as long as its in the commercial format. Yes the arty stuff is a risk but you cant have it both ways as stardom creates expectations and these expectations can only be matched or exceeded with popular cinema.
