Look around the bustling street market along Mohammed Ali Road and you'll realise that the Bollywood superstar's face -- on firecracker packets -- has been replaced by cartoon character Doraemon!
Second in popularity is Pokemon, while there is a tie for the third spot between Chota Bheem and Motu-Patlu.
The reason for this 'cartoon revolution' in cracker business is simple: Children are the greatest patrons of patakas and if they love a certain Doraemon, Salman will have to step aside.
In fact, a visit to Mumbai's firecracker marts reveals that over the last three years, the number of brands bearing a popular star's face has reduced to five in a hundred.
A change in 'brand ambassadors', however, hasn't brought down the sales.
Razzak Kataria, a shopkeeper from Mohammed Ali Road, who has been in the business for two decades, believes that star faces are misleading. "Children often assume that if a cracker packet bears Hrithik Roshan or Salman Khan's face, the actor would actually pop out of the box when the cracker is lit. It's not fair to play with their sentiments," he says, adding, "In any case, nowadays, they ask for patakas that have Doraemon and Pokemon on the packets. They know these characters won't jump out of the boxes, but they are cool with it."
Mukhtar, another cracker seller in the wholesale market, has been in business for 15 years. He says the stars objected to their faces being used to sell crackers. "Till a few years ago, stars weren't bothered. But now, they are a conscious lot. They know that by associating with crackers, they're promoting the idea of using pollutants. So, manufacturers have also cut down the usage of their pictures," he explains.
The story is the same across Mumbai, be it Andheri, Dadar or Borivli. When it comes to stars, Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif, Jacqueline Fernandez, Salman and Aamir Khan are competing with the cartoon characters.
Ikram Memon's family, which has been putting up cracker stalls for more than 30 years, says, "Varun Dhawan, Sidharth Malhotra, Alia Bhatt or even Shahid Kapoor for that matter, aren't widely recalled by consumers. So, their faces haven't made the cut."
Mohammed Ali, who has been in business for a decade, observes that Big B is the only star who has lasted on cracker covers for more than three decades. "Shah Rukh and Salman came in much later and are sparsely there on the jackets. But Bachchan saab has been on the covers ever since I was a child and he still is there," he says.
Image Source: Manav Manglani, greengold, vk, chhotabheem, cartoonpics & pixgood