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Asian cinema: Bollywood
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Bollywood bad boy Salman Khan is back with new blockbuster

It’s the first film since his the controversial actor’s conviction for killing endangered wildlife

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Indian Bollywood actor Salman Khan at the airport in Jodhpur in April, 2018. Photo: AFP
Agence France-Presse

Bollywood bad boy Salman Khan’s first film since his conviction for killing endangered wildlife opened across India Friday, with analysts predicting box office success for his latest Eid blockbuster.

It has become a tradition in the Hindi film industry for Khan, one of the world’s highest-paid actors, to star in the big release on the Muslim holiday of Eid to mark the end of Ramadan, which begins on Saturday in India.

Action film Race 3 is Khan’s fifth straight Eid release and his eighth since 2010.

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It is also his first film since he was handed a five-year jail sentence in April for shooting dead two rare antelopes known as black bucks during a 1998 hunting trip.
Black buck antelopes. Photo: AP
Black buck antelopes. Photo: AP
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The 52-year-old, who has repeatedly denied killing the animals, spent two days behind bars before being granted bail.

The bodybuilding actor suffered a rare commercial failure last Eid when Tubelight, a drama set during the 1962 India-China war, flopped at the box office but analysts expect Race 3 to soar.

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