Sharmila Taliculam

Until last year, he was H-O-T property.

Everything he touched sizzled.

What's more, he was one of the top three stars in the Hindi film industry.

Today, Salman Khan seems to have slipped a few perceptible notches down.

An eye backward pinpoints Hello Brother as the film that turned the tide. The film bombed at the BO.

Sooraj Barjatya's Hum Saath-Saath Hain also didn't help his career any despite the fact that he had two superhits with the Rajshris.

Once considered a Barjatya regular, Salman has been cast aside in favour of Hrithik Roshan and Abhishek Bachchan for Rajshris' next venture, Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon.

His Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega fared well. But then came Kahin Pyaar Na Ho Jaaye, which took a thulping at the BO.

Is Salman is on his way out of the top bracket?

"No!" declares Prakash Pange, executive producer of Ketan Desai's new film starring Salman Khan.

"He is too young to be written off. When we can give senior stars like Amitabh Bachchan chances again and again, why not Salman Khan? Let's wait and see how Chori Chori Chupke Chupke fares before we pass any judgements.

"The film has many things going for it. It's carrying great reports and its good reputed directors like Abbas-Mastan. Not to mention a good story. So if it clicks, Salman will be back in the reckoning."

Chori Chori Chupke Chupke is the Salman's first release after the debacle of Kahin Pyar Na Ho Jaaye. Inspired by the English film, Surrogate Mother, CCCC has Rani Mukherjee and Preity Zinta, the two current hot favourites of Salman Khan.

That could also proove to be his undoing, as Indu Mirani explains, "Salman's problem is that he is getting too repetitive. There seems to be absolutely no difference in the promos of KPNHJ and CCCC.

"You actually have to wait for the title to come up to know which film song they are playing."

If Salman's hopes are vested in CCCC, Ketan Desai's are, too.

Recently, a distributor, while fixing the price for Salman's film at a popular producer's office, is reported to have said: "Aapka hero to aaj kal thanda hai." (Your hero is kind of cold these days.)

The producer shot back, "Agar CCCC achcha jaayega, aap mujhe meri price doge?" (If the film does well, will you give me my price?)

Obviously, there was a difference of opinion as to whether the film would fetch the price it was demanding.

Trade buzz says that at the moment, Salman's film will fetch only three-fourths of the total price of of the territory in which the film is sold. And the total price of a Salman Khan-starrer now stands at about a whopping Rs 15 crore.

A trade analyst puts this in perspective, "Salman is not only an actor; he is a star. So his films are bound to be expensive. When stars shoot abroad, they don't stay in five-star hotels anymore. They want to stay in seven-star deluxe hotels. They will only travel in a Mercedes Benz.

"This is how the production values of the film increase. And you end up spending a lot more than you thought you would.

"Salman being a star, will not demand less or act in a small film. All his films are big. Big budget blockbusters."

Be that as it may, high production values are not so much the problem as Salman's repetitive acting in his recent films. His comedy acts are not funny anymore. His lover boy act is long jaded. And his constant tug of war with the press hasn't helped his reputation and image any.

Indu Mirani says, "His bad publicity works against him. He is known to be very obnoxious -- to people and the press. The latter hasn't been too kind to him or his affairs. People would naturally remember that. What then happens is that they are biased when they watch his film, and that works against him."

The media has always complained that Salman has never behaved himself like the other two Khans ruling the roost.

Shah Rukh Khan is supposedly the most endearing and media savvy actor. Aamir Khan goes the whole hog when his films are released, and one never hears of him ever being nasty with anybody.

It is a well-known fact that Salman has drawn nastiness to a fine art.

Even so, Salman enjoys immense popularity abroad. He is only the third actor -- apart from Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan -- well liked by Indians abroad. Evidently, his bad reputation hasn't yet reached the West!

On a more serious note, the overseas is a big market.

Filmmakers like Yash Chopra and Subhash Ghai recover a major cost of their films from the overseas territory. In fact, this is the reason why the two have been lured into film distribution.

Vinay Choksi of VIP Enterprises, the company selling Salman's latest film, is not worried -- he is confident about the directors and the story of the film. Choksi also happens to be financing the film.

Choksi says, "If this film doesn't do well, it (financing a Salman film), will depend on the next film, its theme and the setup.

"Film distribution works not only on the basis of the hero. And I think CCCC should work at the BO."

So if Ketan Desai is still waiting to sell his film because nobody is willing to give him the price he is demanding at the moment, the trade guys feel that Salman, like Aamir and Shah Rukh, needs a complete image change.

Like Indu puts it, "Salman is not very talented. But he survives because he looks good and has style. But he really must stop fooling around and start taking the audience seriously. Despite his flops, Salman is one of the top three stars. And you can't write him off this easily.

"But if this trend continues, I guess producers won't want him again."

After Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, Salman doesn't have many films lined up for 2001.

And he has practically no releases apart from Ketan Desai's film, which should release around June 2001.

Salman also doesn't have many films under his belt -- at the moment, he has only two films, one of which is his brother Sohail Khan's production.

Pange adds, "You just watch. Let CCCC do well, and he will bounce back. He can't be written off that easily!"

He might not, at that. However, today, December 13, the CCCC producer, Nazim Rizvi has been arrested. And that leaves the fate of the film hanging in balance...