Shah Rukh Khan (Zero, Jab Harry Met Sejal), Aamir Khan (Thugs Of Hindostan) and Salman Khan's (Race 3, Tubelight) recent films have had a lacklustre performance at the box office compared with the blockbuster successes of Gen-Y actors like Vicky Kaushal (Uri), Ayushmann Khurrana (Badhaai Ho, AndhaDhun), Rajkummar Rao (Stree) and Kartik Aaryan's films (Luka Chuppi, Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety).
The Khans are at their 50s and at the high risk of losing their mojo. While Salman and Aamir have still managed to reinvent themselves, SRK's risks have not been paying off lately. His last film 'Zero' with director Aanand L Rai had evoked a lot of expectations among the audience, but the film unfortunately turned out to be a disaster. SRK's other recent releases 'Jab Harry Met Sejal', 'Fan', 'Raees' and 'Dilwale' also fell short of expectations at the box office.
Before the release of 'Zero', when asked about the box office failure of 'Jab Harry Met Sejal', Shah Rukh Khan had said in an interview that he doesn't think much about it as a film's success or failure is not in his hands.
But things seem to have changed now because King Khan is clearly pondering over his mistakes, now, more than ever. During his recent visit to China, Shah Rukh said that he wouldn't take up any new film for the next 2-4 months since he wants to take a break. "Iss waqt acting karne ka mera Dil nahi kar raha," he admitted.
Earlier in April, Mumbai Mirror and DNA After Hrs had reported that Shah Rukh had invited Aamir and Salman to Mannat for a quiet tête-à-tête. It was speculated then that the three superstars are planning to collaborate for something big.
However, a recent report in Bollywood Hungama states that the stars have been having these secret meetings quite often these days and apparently their topic of discussion revolves around anything but a future colloboration.
“It’s become a regular thing for Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan now – whenever all three Khans are in town they catch up, no matter how hectic their schedule is, but now all meetings are very discreet and usually impromptu. The three mostly meet at Shah Rukh’s palatial bungalow in Mannat as Aamir and Salman live very close to SRK and his residence is secluded. Interestingly, Salman is so careful to avoid any media he only takes his driver with him and arrives alone to meet the others. Last time, someone had leaked out their meetings and details hence the need for secrecy for the trio. Aamir too comes alone and all three spend the night chatting away and catching up on most of the news till early morning and meeting pretty frequently,” a Bollywood insider informed Bollywood Hungama.
The source further added, “Apart from their high fees, it is logistically also almost impossible to get the trio doing a film together though Salman and Shah Rukh have appeared in each other’s home productions in special appearances. When they meet, apparently, their talk is mostly about the current actors like Vicky Kaushal, Kartik Aaryan and Ayushmann Khurrana doing so well and praising their work and the success of their movies, how they need to plan and strategize their own careers for the future, catching up on their lives and Bollywood news. It’s a relaxed, casual atmosphere with the three Khans just meeting, planning, and talking informally away from prying eyes… Hotels are not their meetings points as the paparazzi and public are always there.”
While Shah Rukh hasn't announced his next project yet, Salman is awaiting the release of 'Bharat'. Aamir Khan on the other hand has started work on 'Laal Singh Chaddha'.
