This one was a hot head to head in the early 90s especially
when SRK was making his first impacts with antihero roles
in Baazigar and Darr which had Sunny playing the main
protagonist. From there it was a close race for some time
but then as we tend to say with almost all such things,
‘the rest was history’. One person took the
lift and the other took the stairs. We don’t have
to explain who took what. While SRK went on to become
King, Sunny remained the King Kong that he started his
career off as. He still specializes in knocking out people
(take Apne for proof). So when both of them lash at the
box office after what seems like years, there ought to
be some sort of interest. Their movies might have clashed
a few times in the past years, but all that went unnoticed
as Sunny’s career has been dragging along at a sluggish
pace. But this one is different. Sunny is charged up after
his family combination worked some of the old magic at
the box office. Apne packed a punch and Sunny’s
fans are suddenly back (they were always there, it was
just the question of the right movie happening). So, can
the renewed King Kong give a few jitters to the King;
looks unlikely. We can already rule out the possibility
of Sunny’s flick getting a better opening than SRK’s,
but can Sunny’s presence rob SRK off a flying start.
That’s the question. With Apne still in theaters
and people wanting to see more of Sunny style action it
can happen.
That we will know on Aug 10. The day that Chak De India
and Kaafila release. Forget the quality of the movies.
It is the star power that calls the shots on day one of
any movie. We will know whether the rivalry still has
some life in it or were we just hoping for something that
was gone long ago. There is reason for hope because every
film critic has always unanimously agreed that Mr. Sunny
Deol is one actor you can never write off. He knows the
art of coming back. Note: some of the records of Gaddar:
Ek Prem Kahani (2001) are yet to be broken. |
