Will Salman's brush with the law affect his popularity?

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">MUMBAI: Salman''s family, friends and fans are finally breathing easy. The actor has been granted bail by Judge P V Bavkar on Thursday, after a strict warning not to contact witnesses in the case. Although those close to Salman believe that the worst of times are over, there is a nagging thought that sets one thinking about Salman''s future career graph.<br />Although actors like Sunjay Dutt and Fardeen Khan have been able to put their skirmishes with the law behind them and take their careers forward, one wonders whether Salman will be able to do the same. After a harrowing period in jail, it will certainly be tough for the actor to swing into action on the sets immediately. Are his producers willing to wait for him?<br />We spoke to well-known trade analyst, Komal Nahata, about Salman''s current position in the industry. Although he has only three to four films on hand right now -- <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Dil Chura Ke Chal Diye</span> and <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Tere Naam</span> being two of them, as well as the Hollywood project <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Marigold</span>, would the accident case affect Salman''s star status in the industry? <br />Komal says, "There must be roughly around Rs 35-40 crore riding on Salman Khan right now. He''s doing two or three films at the moment. But I don''t think this incident will affect his career prospects in any way. See, in the film industry, it is the current box-office standing of the star that matters. The question is only whether the actor will be able to pull in crowds at theatres, and I believe Salman can still do this."<br />What about the film <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Marigold</span> which is to be made by a Hollywood company? The film, a musical romantic comedy to be directed by Willard Carrol, had been announced with much fanfare and is budgeted at under $10 million. It is expected to star an as yet uncast US actress and will be shot in both Hindi and English. Considering that attitudes abroad are quite different, would Salman''s involvement in the accident case result in his being dropped from the project? "Actually, I don''t know about <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Marigold</span>. Whatever has happened so far is merely on paper, and they''ve only held press conferences and such. The film hasn''t gone on the floors as yet, and I am skeptical about when it will begin. So it doesn''t matter right now."<br />His Indian producers may have stuck by him so far, but the corporate world hasn''t been so kind to Salman. In fact, Thums Up has already switched loyalties to Akshay Kumar, to ensure that the incident doesn''t affect the product''s standing in the market. <br />Although Coca-Cola India itself has refused to state why it has opted for Akshay Kumar, a spokesperson for the company merely stated, "Our contract with Salman expires in two months," and there was apparently no intention of renewing the said contract. Will Salman be able to endorse products again? "The ad world functions in a totally different way as compared to the film industry," Komal reveals, "I am not familiar with their machinations, so I won''t be able to comment on why. Thums Up may have opted for Akshay Kumar, but we''ll just have to just wait and watch how they will react."<br />The actor is out on bail, but could there be another arrest in the near future post the court verdict (assuming it, God forbid, didn''t go in his favour). Would that put a spoke in the wheel for producers again? "No, I don''t think so," says Komal. "The legal process is already underway, but I don''t see Salman being arrested again in the near future."<br />We''re sure everyone has their fingers crossed on that one. Especially Salman''s producers! As for where his stock is going, time will tell. </div> </div>