Besides a cameo appearance, Dilwale was the only occasion Shah Rukh Khan's fans got ot see him on the big screen this year. Fans turned out to see their hero in Rohit Shetty's lavish film that spanned three continents and cost a massive 100 crore, $15 million at least in Bollywood standards, to make. Of course, it has pulled in 234 crore, $35 miilion in its first eight days.
Wikipedia notes its beginnings, " In January 2015, Rohit Shetty announced a project with Shah Rukh Khan in the lead which would be their second collaboration after the 2013 film Chennai Express. Shetty stated that he would start filming in March 2015. Shetty paired actress Kajol with Khan, making it the seventh time they were cast opposite each other. He also signed actor Varun Dhawan who was reportedly playing Khan's brother while actress Kriti Sanon was signed opposite him."
Dilwale was never going to be a critical darling. It was made for one purpose, to make as big a box office splash as possible and, for the most part, it has done that. A lot of critics unfairly target films like Dilwale because they have no comprehension of their purpose. If you were to ask SRK, he'd probably not make any attempt to mask the project in a cloak of pretension. It is entertainment but Bollywood's most base entertainment still demands a great degree of awareness by its viewers that few other cinemas do.
Granted, the storyline of Dilwale is very conviluted and a segment of SRK's fan base would like him to get expand a little. According to the website Bollywood Hungama, "People from within Bollywood are saying that Shah Rukh Khan needs to reinvent himself now. He has been doing the same sort of films and is taking less risks. Happy New Year and Dilwale are only trying to take advantage of SRK's stardom and they are not doing anything new. While Aamir Khan always comes up with new concepts, even Salman Khan surprised everyone with Bajrangi Bhaijaan this year. Senior Trade pundits feel that it would be wise if SRK's Raees shouldn't clash with Salman Khan's Sultan on Eid. The business will get divided again and if SRK loses that battle it will hurt his reputation badly."
It turns out that this was a fight SRK should have never taken on. Still, despite its problems, Dilwale is making good money and how many actors cab you name that can do that?
