Few disclosures upfront

1. I am a (sort of) a SRK fan (or at least was before Ra-One and Jab tak hai Jaan)
2. I have watched most if not all SRK movies (even Jab tak hai Jaan!!)
3. I am married to a lady who is a hardcore SRK fan (hence point 2)
4. I am happy to watch all the SRK movies multiple times (that includes Chennai Express)
5. I have seen and actually liked Happy New Year

Having said all that, I feel ‘Happy New Year’ might just be where it all starts to go wrong for SRK. Here is why

I love the SRK moments from movies .. Happy New Year has none 

I havn’t come out of a SRK movie ever without few SRK special moments whether KKKKiran (incidentally my wife’s name) or Nam to Suna hi hoga or Fir Milenge Chalte Chalte … I always had my SRK moments from each of the SRK movies that I saw ( except Jab tak hai Jaan). Even Ra One had few. Happy New Year has none

SRK is rarely outshone … In Happy New Year he was ( and by AB Junior !!)

<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”//www.youtube.com/embed/b49oQXV8jxs” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen>

The line which has stayed with me after the movie as been ‘Nandu Bhide, Dimag main kide’ , which is ironic as I do not particularly like AB Junior (expect Guru, Sarkar). Even Deepika Padukon played a memorable role. Now that rarely happens. Even against biggest super starts SRK always comes through with flying colours. With Happy New Year, he was overshadowed and out performed by others.

SRK was always the star not just a star attraction

Happy New Year was marketed using the SRK brand. Most went to theaters to see SRK and I for one was disappointed to see that SRK was almost the guest appearance. As I said, there were no SRK moments, No SRK dialogues, nothing. You were left wondering if the film’s marketing was misleading !! I actually thought of filing a complaint with the customer grievance cell to register. SRK was almost used as a bait to get people in to watch AB Junior and Deepika. It does make commercial sense but what about alienating SRK fan base?

SRK movies were always about fans not money

Everything I have heard about Happy New Year has been about it’s commercial model and the genius of SRK to recover money before release and so on. Nothing about how SRK is loved by his fans or how his fans are crazy abt the movie. It somehow does not sit right with me. I did pay 280 Rs to watch SRK ( sorry AB Junior) but it was never about that. The day SRK is about money, fans might start thinking about those 280 Rs

What if all future SRK movies are like this? It will not take a lot of time for SRK to go down the route of yesteryear legands who were reduced to guest appearances or as launch pads for new actors.  SRK will still earn the money but what about the fans and their love?

It will be more like Sachin playing for records and forgetting the joy of playing cricket. I was happy that Tendulkar retired before that happened and I will not be sad to see SRK hang his acting shoes before he becomes just another commercial brand !!