It is banking heavily on Shah Rukh Khan, one of India’s most loved stars in the past three decades, to bail it out from its current crisis. The 57-year-old SRK, as he is affectionately called in and outside the industry, is set to return to the big screen on January 25 in a high-voltage action drama called ‘Pathaan’, his first mega release in more than four years since ‘Zero’ (2018).

On the face of it, everything looks right about the film. It has been produced by the biggest banner, Yash Raj Films, and directed by Siddharth Anand, who delivered the Hrithik Roshan-Tiger Shroff blockbuster, ‘War’ (2019) not so long ago. The film also features A-listers Deepika Padukone and John Abraham as central characters alongside SRK. But the USP of ‘Pathaan’ is indisputably the ‘Badshah of Bollywood’ who has ruled the industry for nearly 30 years.

Even though SRK has not delivered any genuine blockbuster since ‘Chennai Express’ (2013), there is palpable excitement over his ‘comeback’ not only among his fans but also within the film industry that desperately needs a big commercial hit to silence its critics who have written it off in the recent months.

In 2022, only one Hindi film, ‘The Kashmir Files’, made it to the IMDb’s list of most watched Indian movies with the likes of southern blockbusters such as ‘RRR’, ‘Pushpa’ and ‘KGF: Chapter 2’ stealing the thunder from Bollywood. SRK’s comeback, therefore, is not the only reason for the Hindi cinema industry to wait for ‘Pathaan’s release with bated breath.

But it is not happening with the usual quota of controversies that have dogged many big-ticket Hindi movies over the past couple of years. ‘Pathaan’ has already plunged into a sea of unsavoury controversies. The depiction of Deepika Padukone in a revealing, orange swimsuit in a song sequence with SRK has proved to be a red rag to a section of people, including a few politicians and seers, who are apparently irked or hurt by the choice of the colour of her outfit. As the release date of the film draws closer, such protests are only likely to increase.

For the record, controversies have had a?diametrically opposite impact?on different films under different circumstances over the years. At times, negative publicity has hardly caused harm to a film caught in the middle of a storm, political, religious or otherwise. A filmmaker such as Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who has been no stranger to hostile reactions to his films ahead of their release, may well vouch for it. Even though his ventures like ‘Padmaavat’ (2018) raised the hackles of many for one reason or the other, it ultimately helped in increasing the footfalls at the theatres by whetting the curiosity of the audiences at large. The makers of ‘Pathaan’ should hope for something similar to the outcome of the ongoing row.

On the other hand, there have also been films such as Aamir Khan’s ‘Lal Singh Chaddha’ (2022) that had to pay the price for an overtly negative campaign against it on social media. A remake of the Hollywood classic, ‘Forrest Gump’ (1994), Aamir’s film struggled to lure the audience even in its first weekend primarily because of a ‘boycott’ campaign that continued to gain momentum until its release.

So, what will be the fate of SRK’s new film? Most industry observers believe that ‘Pathaan’ will have a smooth sail at the box office despite all the controversies. But then, it all ultimately depends on the content of the film. As SRK’s past few films have underlined, the mere presence of a superstar with a humongous fan following the world over cannot guarantee success unless the film is backed by solid content.

‘Pathaan’ is, therefore, a do-or-die film not only for SRK but also for the entire film industry that he has nurtured and nourished seamlessly with his charisma and star power all through the past three decades.