I am so enjoying these “decade” posts, because I can do big simple categories and there are still enough options to make it interesting. If I were doing “best/worst Salman Khan Film of 2019”, it would just be between two, and that is boring.
Salman gets kind of a bad rap in terms of film choices. Looking at this list from the past ten years, he has used multiple directors, worked in multiple genres, really stretched himself. Ish. I mean, he still always mostly plays Salman, but he does provide a lot of genre for us. Anyway, which of these is the BEST? And, conversely, which of these is the WORST?
Veer
He wrote the script himself! And the script is not terribly stupid. However, the execution is really REALLY bad. Crazy mixture of historical periods, bad wigs, weird fight scenes.
Dabangg
So fun! And surprisingly intelligent, the plot fits together like a fine watch, there is a nice message about Polio vaccines and intercaste marriages thrown in there, plus great roles for Dimple Kapadia and Vinod Khanna. Oh, and the soundtrack is great. Can you tell this is one of my favorites?
Ready
It’s okay. A southern remake that does some interesting changes to the plot to make it Salman-friendly, he plays an aging bachelor whose family is pressuring him into marriage, who has a battle of wits with Asin as a bride on the run pretending to be his fiancee.
Bodyguard
Another south remake, good songs, good fight scenes, and Salman-Kareena which is always good. It’s just the plot is a little “say what now?”
Ek Tha Tiger
A really witty action-comedy-romance, fabulous Salman-Katrina chemistry, great fight scenes, and Cuba!
Dabangg 2
Not as deep or serious as Dabangg 1, but maybe that makes it better? More of a pure silly action fest?
Jai Ho
I haven’t seen this, but I really REALLY doubt anyone will pick it as the best one. On the other hand, it does have Tabu in it.
Kick
It’s in Poland! And Jacqueline Fernandez looks cute in glasses. And it’s got a couple of really catchy songs.
Bajrangi Bhaijaan
Is this the best Salman performance of the decade? Maybe! Convincingly sweet and simple, but not dumb.
Prem Ratan Dhan Payo
Salman’s only Sooraj Barjatya movie of the decade, the most kid and family oriented film he did in the 2010s.
Sultan
Great GREAT title track, really good Salman emotional performance in a couple of scenes, but is it the best?
Tubelight
Salman plays a developmentally disabled young man, and he tries to address racism. Sigh.
Tiger Zinda Hai
Like Ek Tha Tiger, but with more hate and violence and less love. Although there is a cute kid, and a wolf pack, and Katrina’s action scenes are even better.
Race 3
Can anyone explain this plot to me? Because I still can’t follow it. Plus Salman wrote the love song himself. Oh dear.
Bharat
Another great title song, amazing role for his heroine, surprisingly light and sweet tone to it, and Salman convincingly plays a character who ages from 20 to 60.
Dabangg 3
It’s just so fun! And the songs are still great! And Sonakshi has an even better role than in the first movie!
Okay, which is your pick for worst? And which for best?
I’ll tell you mine! For Best, tie between Dabangg and Bajrangi Bhaijaan
For Worst, tie between Race 3 and Tubelight
dontcallitbollywood 
For best, Bajrangi Bhaijaan fo sho but I have a lot of love for Ek Tha Tiger as well. Worst that I’ve seen is Kick, good god that was awful. But apparently Race 3 and Tubelight are worse if my Twitter followers are any indication.
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Kick was baaaaaaaaaaad but Tubelight was actually a little bit offensive. And Race 3 has this song, written by Salman (you must watch it to appreciate it):
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One thing is sure: Kick is 10 times worse than Race 3.
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But is it worse than Tubelight???
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I didn’t have courage to watch Tubelight so I can’t say. But it was rejected even by Salman’s biggest fans while Kick made money. In my opinion the list of the worst movies would be:
1. Tublight
2. Kick
.
.
3. Race 3
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And best?
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I have seen only 3 movies : Kick, Race 3 and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (LOL I really have a problem. Why I watch only trash?)
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Watch Bajrangi Bhaijaan! But only if you can handle cute children in peril.
On Tue, Jan 14, 2020 at 3:14 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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As long as it’s not “poor child is sick and the parents don’t have money for the operation so they commit suicide leaving the child alone in his last days” I can handle this. In fact Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Dabang are the only films I plan watching.
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Oh I think you might really like Dabangg! Watch out, Sultan is a decent movie, but it’s got a dead baby.
On Tue, Jan 14, 2020 at 3:26 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I have not seen everything. But if I get a vote for best, I vote for Bharat. The film was as much about the heroine as it was about the hero, and they did the 20 years of time passing well. It is a really good movie that I could recommend to just about anyone.
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Oh, watch Bajrangi Bhaijaan! If you havent’ already. Or maybe you have and still like Bharat best. Bharat is really really made and consistantly zigs where you think it is going to zag.
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I’ll have to see Bajrangi Bhaijaan!
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Best: Ek Tha Tiger
Worst: all the others
Disclaimer: Did not watch Bajrangi Bhaijaan.
I know there are people out there that love what he does but I just don’t get any of his work.
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Watch Bajrangi Bhaijaan! It doesn’t feel like a “Salman” movie at all.
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Having seen only 4 of these, I nominate Jai Ho as maybe the worst film I’ve seen of the decade, for anyone. Ek Tha Tiger was my favorite on this list, but I’m probably missing some of the best. Still haven’t gotten to Bharat.
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I haven’t seen Jai Ho yet! Sounds like I can continue skipping it? Although “worst film of the decade” is triggering kind of a sick curiosity in me.
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It’s like if you took the Salman formula, put it into a computer, and autogenerated a script. Opening fight scene where he singlehandedly defeats ten guys. Beautiful, much younger love interest. Simplistic, tenderhearted message that he repeats throughout the film.
Tabu is nice to watch but no supporting performance can save a story this thin.
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I know that Jai Ho was the remake of Chiranjeevi’s movie Stalin which I thought was a too melodramatic masala. The fun parts weren’t really fun but the movie did well in Telugu because Chiranjeevi retired into politics right after it came out until he came back a couple years ago.
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Worst: Tubelight. No contest!
With Salman, best is hard because the movies are all strangely very Salman yet the genres are all so varied. I guess if I had to pick the best Salman movie, it would likely be Bajranji Bhaijaan because it really was just such a good movie. But I think the movie where he stretched his acting skills the most was probably Sultan.
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Agree with both your comments. And maybe they are related? Sultan worked because Salman carried it a bit over the rough spots of the plot (how did Salman age so much more than Anushka in the same time period, for example). With Bajrangi, he could give a slightly easier performance because the film could stand on its own.
Salman worked SO HARD to make Tubelight work, and it just wasn’t ever going to work. At least with Race 3 he was smart enough not to try, just slept through the whole thing.
On Wed, Jan 15, 2020 at 8:32 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Agreed. Race 3 just made me go okay, this was a fine one-time watch and I expect something like this from Salman.
I actually feel bad hating on Tubelight because I know Salman was going way out of his comfort zone to try something different but it was just not good.
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I feel like Bajrangi was the better movie but I liked Sultan a bit more in Salman’s films this decade. I also surprisingly liked Bodyguard.
The only movie I saw and hated would be Kick. The Telugu Kick is one of my favorite movies, especially because of Illeana’s character and they just ruined it. The changed her character so much and then they had Jacqueline in it and she just annoys me.
Didn’t Bharat flop? I kind of want to check it out because I’ve only seen it being praised on this blog which typically means that it’s actually a solid movie.
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The last 3 or 4 films of Salman have all underperformed. They skate by based on the initial weekend collections template masala/action movies tend to get. But after that, nobody is interested. There was no hype even for Dabangg 3 which is supposed to be the 3rd part of a huge franchise. A useless nothing of a film like Good News did so much better when nobody had even considered that movie in the running earlier.
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Yeah, I think Salman’s time is coming to an end especially with the type of movies he has coming up. I don’t think anyone is interested in the movie with Prabhu Deva except for his fans
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Maybe he will reinvent himself again? We are all so locked into Salman Action Star now, but the reality is that it’s just since 2009. He could always change himself around again.
On Fri, Jan 17, 2020 at 9:49 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Bharat didn’t flop super much, it did fine, just not record breaking.
It’s very solid. If you liked Sultan, I would say similar quality. Some real heart to it, a nice tone, good songs, and a better romance.
On Thu, Jan 16, 2020 at 9:48 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I started watching Bharat last night and I like it so far. I stopped right after Chasni ended. Ali Abbas Zafar is a good director and I sorta wish he would work with someone else instead of being stuck with Salman.
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Oh I’m so glad! Bharat is a really nice movie.
On Fri, Jan 17, 2020 at 9:46 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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