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Saif Ali Khan, who is following Shah Rukh Khan's footsteps abroad as a highly durable Bollywood star, scored his first $1 million solo hit in North America with Salaam Namaste. In the process, he beat other successful desi films, including Aamir Khan's Mangal Pandey (about $1 million), and may soon trounce Shah Rukh's Swades (about $1.2 million).
But Salaam Namaste may not be able to beat Shah Rukh's Paheli, that grossed an awesome $1.5 million in North America. With Saif's current hit, and Parineeta and Hum Tum right behind them, the 34-year-old now ranks as the second most bankable star abroad after Shah Rukh.
The romantic comedy Salaam Namaste, which also stars Preity Zinta, has grossed about $1.1 million in 17 days in North America and $1 million in the United Kingdom. The Yash Raj film has become a hot favourite with teenagers. It may end its run in the two highly lucrative overseas territories with a strong $2.5 million gross. It had a more formidable performance in UK since it was shown there only on about 36 screens, while it was on more than 60 screens in North America. With at least $1.5million expected from Australia, Hong Kong, South Africa, Germany and the Gulf, you have a formidable hit with a $4 million gross outside India.
"There is an air of haplessness in him that is instantly appealing," says London-based novelist Hari Kunzru, who liked Saif in Hum Tum, and would love to see him play the lead of a nerdish IT worker in the film adaptation of the novel, Transmission. Saif has the makings of a formidable character actor and not just a baby-faced hero, he feels, adding that Saif is far more naturalistic than other Bollywood actors who are considerably hotter at home.
Saif's first solo hit abroad, Hum Tum with Rani Mukerji, grossed about $800,000 in North America last year. In the United Kingdom, it grossed over $1 million. The film, directed by Kunal Kohli, was written by Siddharth Raj Anand who made his debut as a director with Salaam Namaste.
A powerful testimonial for Saif's growing box-office clout was the $1.8 million gross tearjerker Parineeta, made on two sides of the Atlantic. Unlike Hum Tum and Salaam Namaste, which had popular stars Rani Mukerji and Preity Zinta opposite him respectively, in Parineeta he was cast opposite newcomer Vidya Balan. Of course, Sanjay Dutt also added his own bit to the film, but Dutt is hardly a star abroad.
Interestingly, all three hits including Parineeta (Pradeep Sarkar) were directed either by first timers or relatively new helmers.