Bollywoodhungama is just the best.  They just posted the best of the box office 2015 list, broken down by territories.  I already talked about how Bajirao stacked the deck by focusing on the Bombay audience, and how Dilwale suffered by losing market share to protests. And how Salman is consistently the all India winner.  But this makes it even more apparent.

Bombay and Delhi, which are the two biggest markets for Hindi language films, both went for Salman.  Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Prem Ratan are two of their top 3.  The third, for Delhi, is Tanu Weds Manu Returns, reflecting the regional interest in a Northern set love story.  And for Bombay, Bahubaali.  Reflecting that Bahubaali is awesome!  And also that the Bombay audience is a little more open to regional films.

East Punjab is the same as Delhi, unsurprisingly.  Rajasthan also.  Central India follows the lead of Bombay, again unsurprising.

Bajirao Mastani only made the list in Tamil Nadu and Mysore, reflecting its slow start (this list is for 2015, so it cuts out on Dec. 31st).

The 7 remaining regions, it is Salman-Salman-Shahrukh.  Or Salman-Shahrukh-Salman.  Or in one case, Shahrukh-Salman-Bajirao. These are the most far-flung regions, the farthest from the Hindi language centers of Delhi and Bombay: Nizam, Mysore, West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Orissa, and Tamil Nadu.

Language and regional specifics has always been a big issue for Hindi cinema, and it looks like that is still true.  Salman’s movies, with their simple plots, good songs, and okay but not complex Hindi dialogue, rang true through out the country.

Something like Tanu Weds Manu or Bahubaali can pick up some good money in certain regions, but will never turn into an all India hit, not with its regional specifics.

If they are ever released, I would be curious to see Bajirao‘s all India figures, and see if the elaborate battle scenes and amazing sets were enough to override its extremely specific regional elements.

But on this list, Dilwale is the one that really shocked me.  Shahrukh is generally considered the star of the “classes”, the urban mainstream educated types.  But his film ended up doing better off on the edges of the map than in the centers.  I would argue this is for two reasons.  First, Rohit Shetty.  Big action scenes, bright colors, things that communicate in any language-that is where he shines.

Second, Shahrukh is striving to be an All-India hero, someone who transcends regional specifics.  Look at his “Raj” in Dilwale: he is from Bulgaria and Goa, his friends are a Hindu and a Muslim, and he is friendly with Christians.  He uses simple Hindi, with no regional affect.  If Indian cultures were ice cream flavors, he would be the vanilla that goes well with everything.  While the Hindi speaking areas may go for something more complex like Rocky Road, when you are in Assam, you just want something that sits easily on the tongue and soothes the stomach.

Salman, of course, cracked this code years ago.  That’s why everyone loves him.  He is Salman Bhai, he doesn’t care if you are from Bihar or Tamil Nadu, he just wants to make you happy.