[imagebrowser id=268] MUMBAI: It was a showdown of sorts, at the ‘Dabangg 2’ premiere held in Mumbai last night, with Salman Khan competing against himself. The film, which has hit screens today, saw majority of Bollywood turn up, to soak in the histrionics of Salman Khan as Chulbul Pandey.
The question on everyone’s lips, even here at the premiere seemed to be: will he or won’t he?
Will he break his own box office records, that is.
The speculation has, only naturally been on for quite some time. Will Salman’s newest film garner the same numbers or exceed that of his previous film this year; ‘Ek Tha Tiger’.
We spotted the usual B’town celebrities, along with several new faces on the premiere circuit last night.
Bollywood filmmaker and Salman’s newest friend Karan Johar was there, as was close friend and competitor Aamir Khan. ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ Director Kabir Khan, Salman’s new protégé Arjun Kapoor, ‘Dabangg’ part one’s villain Sonu Sood, brother Sohail Khan and his sisters.
Also seen were Poonam Sinha, Farhan Akhtar, and Riteish and Genelia Deshmukh (a tad too formally dressed, in our opinion!) Filmmakers and Salman’s close friends Subhash Ghai and Prabhu Deva too came along, for this star-studded film extravaganza.
Coming to the Khan khaandaan: we spotted Salman in a very ‘Dabangg’ avatar: a tight muscle tee which read just ‘Being’ boldly across his chest. He entered with director-brother Arbaaz Khan and Malaika Arora Khan.
Salman’s ex Sangeeta Bijlani made a surprise entry and the film’s female lead Sonakshi donned her usual boring Indian ensemble: this time- a long, black anarkali and perhaps too much makeup.
We even caught up with Arbaaz Khan, the proud debutant director, who said it would be a case of Salman vs. Salman at the box office: “Only Salman can break the record of another Salman Khan film. He has an image and a following that is so huge, it’s hard for another hero, in this scenario, to take him on.” What confidence, we like!
Salman proved just how popular he is, at this very filmy premiere. At the venue in Pheonix Marketcity, Salman burst into a choreographed jig on the makeshift stage with a bunch of female dancers dressed as policemen. He was the centre of attention, and performed a riveting dance to his popular tracks from the film, including ‘Pandeyji Seeti’ and ‘Fevicol’.
