Salman Khan becomes the bogeyman at the box office

Ignore their false sense of bravado, most superstars spend months, days and hours tracking Salman Khan's release-day strategy rather than worrying about their own release dates.

Everyone knows that for the last four years (2009-2012), Ramzan-Eid holidays have been super-beneficial to Salman at the box office. If he is coming around that time, other stars prefer to steer clear.
This Eid, Salman is supposed to come with Sohail Khan's Mental. The film will kick off in Dubai later this month and should hopefully be ready for an August 8 release.
However, Sallu has left several stars guessing whether he will or will not come on the coveted Eid date.
One knows that Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai Returns is confirmed for Eid, 2013. One also hears that Chennai Express is hoping that if Salman misses that date, they can take it. However, maximum confusion is happening around the releases that are to follow.
For example, Ajay Devgn has reportedly asked Prakash Jha to shift Satyagraha from its original August-15 slot to a week later. But even as Ajay finished giving this instruction, Jha learnt that Rajkumar Santoshi wants to bring Phata Poster Nikla Hero — with Shahid Kapoor in the lead — on August 22.
So now, either Satyagraha or Santoshi will have to move again. Told ya, Salman has become the bogeyman at the box office. The current trade advice is, "Yaar, apni picture ki date move karo; uss date pe shayad Salman aa raha hai."