HYDERABAD: Bollywood actor Salman Khan's recent display of bonhomie with BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has upset many movie aficionados with calls for boycotting the actor's movies gaining momentum across the city and multiplexes reporting poor ticket sales of Jai Ho, Khan's latest offering released on Friday.
Sources said the screen occupancy across major multiplexes hovered between an abysmal 30% and 45%, an aberration in recent times for any movie starring the actor on the opening day.
Multiplex staff estimated that the decrease was between 15% and 30%.
"The response has been bad and the morning shows were almost empty. Usually, Salman Khan's movies attract a horde of his devoted and doting male fans. This was not seen at Jai Ho shows. We estimate that the occupancy was between 30 and 35% on Friday," said a Cinemax official, who did not wish to be named, as he is not authorised to speak to the media.
Observers said the poor response could have been on account of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen supremo and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, mincing no words in criticising Khan for associating with Modi at a public meeting last week."What will the youth do now? Why do you make him (Salman) a hero? God will cut the string of his (Salman's) kite. Our heroes should be scholars and pious people not people like him. There are many Salmans including Salman Rushdie. People think that if they (BJP) bring people like Salman, others will be happy. We will stop them democratically," he said.
Fans said that they felt 'betrayed' with what they described as Khan's 'kite flying antics'. Hamed Hussain, a techie and resident of Banjara Hills said: "Any Muslim joining Modi is condemnable. Any fair-minded person would not have done it.
"Salman even went to Saifai festival in Uttar Pradesh when Muzaffarnagar riot victims are yet to be rehabilitated fully. I am not going to watch any Salman movie henceforth," he said. Another fan noted that the first five rows at an evening show in Prasads lay vacant. "It's almost unbelievable to see such a scene," Sunil Kumar, a huge fan of Salman said.
Security was accorded to single screen theatres, including Sudha and Shama in the Old City. "Policemen in plainclothes were sent to deal with any untoward incident. So far no protests have been seen," Mohammed Akhtar, proprietor of the famed Yakut Mahal said.
Prasads Imax at Tank Bund, which is running more than 15 shows per day, too recorded poor occupancy. Sources said that even the high footfall of visitors could not be converted into ticket sales.
"There was an occupancy of around 42% for Jai Ho on Friday which is low when compared to openings of Salman's other movies. This is poor and definitely not the response we were expecting," said a Prasads official, requesting anonymity, adding that sales for night shows were 'picking up'. The average occupancy for multiplexes is between 50% and 65%, the source added.
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