Just six years in the industry and Tiger Shroff has been enjoying an enviable stardom already. From Heropanti (2016) to Baaghi 3 (2020), it has been one fantastic run for the young actor who has found rather footing in the industry.
Most importantly, he has found his bearing amongst the masses as the action hero who kicks, punches, dances, serenades his leading lady and finds a connect especially amongst the youth and the kids.
This is something that was demonstrated yet again earlier this year with Baaghi 3 which just about missed entering the Rs 100 Crore Club due to an abrupt end of its run after 10 days, owing to COVID-19 pandemic.
The film stopped at the Rs 95-crore mark and had it stayed for just one or two more days in theatres, it could well have turned out to be the third major century for Tiger Shroff. After all, while Baaghi 2 started this all, War took it to a different level altogether.
Though Baaghi 3 couldn’t match the scale of Baaghi 2 when it comes to the moolah collected at the box office, rest assured it was still far bigger than what many other young stars are struggling to achieve, especially when it comes to a consistent box office run.
What is working in favour of Tiger Shroff is the fact that the youngster pretty much realises his strengths as well as weaknesses. As a matter of fact he knows that it's his action which is loved the most amongst the masses and for that he is giving his best. This means right from getting his martial arts right to participating in dare devil stunts, he is doing well.
No wonder, he is turning out to be a one man force when it comes to taking on an entire army, something that was apparent in Baaghi franchise.
This is also the reason why when someone of his stature and standing is pinned to the ground, audiences reject that avatar of his, as was the case with Student of the Year 2. A high school romcom affair, it came close on the heels of Baaghi 2 and even though it too managed to do average business at least, it was nowhere close to the big ticket films that Tiger is currently known for.
Hence it is not surprising that even a Rs 95-crore success like Baaghi 3 is being seen as good, and not excellent, since a lot more moolah could well have come in had the coronavirus scare not resulted in theaters been shut down and audiences at large staying away.
Of course the film as a whole too wasn't as much of a wholesome entertainer as Baaghi 2. However, for a core target audience in the interiors, it was still giving everyone their money's worth, which means during a regular release period, it could well have found itself in Rs 130-150 crore range.
Nonetheless, there is a roadmap already ahead for Tiger to go out there and excel. There are three films which are tagged to his name, all being franchises in the making. These are Heropanti 2, Ganapath - Chapter One and Rambo. In fact Rambo was announced quite some time back and one waits to see when does director Sidharth Anand reunites with his War hero and brings the official remake of the Sylvester Stallone starrer on floors.
As for Heropanti 2, preparations are already in full swing as the film would be traversing continents to give it a more upscale look and feel. Producer Sajid Nadiadwala and director Ahmed Khan are reuniting with Tiger Shroff after the Baaghi series and rest assured, action would be taken to the next level all over again.
Meanwhile, Ganapath - Chapter One is the biggest masala entertainer from Vikas Behl who is returning after Hrithik Roshan’s Super 30 and is making the film for producers Vashu Bhagnani, Jackky Bhagnani and Deepshikha Deshmukh.
With stakes going higher up after every passing film, it is now time to look at how Tiger Shroff continues his Bollywood sojourn from this point on and makes it all count. He has done that in the years gone by and with 2021 kickstarting, all eyes are on him to bring audiences back for his masala entertainers.