Crackers named after stars: Will it be Salman phuljadi or Katrina anar?

Bollywood is lighting up the cracker market this Diwali. Firecrackers named after stars like Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone and superheroes like Thor, Iron Man are lining up the shelves.

Salman, Katrina and Deepika are joined by Thor, Iron Man and Spiderman in Sadar Bazar while Bahubali and Dhoni make guest appearances. No, they are not shooting for a Hollywood-Bollywood potboiler! The firecracker industry is having a crackling Diwali and these stars and characters are the hottest picks this season.

All around Sadar Bazar, one can see filmstars and superheroes on the boxes of chakris, anars, phuljadis and rocket bombs.

“Sallu bhai har jagah hai pataako pe. Filmon mein bhi woh hit hai aur pataako mein bhi. Log khareedte bhi hai aur demand bhi hai kyonki unhe lagta hai pataako mein Sallu bhai wala dum hoga,”says Arjun Bharadwaj of Manaktala Bros, a cracker seller in the market.

Read: Diwali lights brighten UK’s ‘Little India’

Ranjeet Singh, another seller, favours the girls, “Sonakshi aur Deepika sabse hit hai packaging mein. Bollywood ka zor rehta hai har saal, pichle saal Hollywood ka tha. Iss saal mushkil se Hollywood ke chehre dikhe hai.”

Superheroes on the cracker boxes. (Shivam Saxena/HT)

Even then shops have crackers with superheros like Thor, Iron Man and Spiderman. Stills of films like Troy, Avatar and Bahubali also adorn the packages.

Arun Babbar, another shop owner in the area, also told us that when it comes to buying crackers, people prefer to carry home the most attractive packages and it is the stars that add this value to what they are selling. “Bollywood aur superheros toh hai hi, par agar Dhoni jaise log packet pe bane ho toh log zaroor khareedte hai. Cricket jo josh lata hai, uska koi match nahi hota.

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