Subhash K Jha (DNA; April 28, 2015)

Salman Khan’s two releases in 2015 both feature him as the consummate conscience-keeper of the nation. Sooraj Barjatya’s Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, which releases in November sees the return of Salman as the Bhagwan Shri Ram-avatar Prem. The ideal son, brother and family-man which Salman played in Sooraj’s Hum Aapke Hain Koun and Hum Saath Saath Hain was lost in an avalanche of bad-boy-with-a-good-heart roles.

Taking the Swachh Bharat campaign further, the actor has repackaged himself as clean-boy. Salman in not only Sooraj’s Prem Ratan Dhan Payo but also in Kabir Khan’s Bajrangi Bhaijaan where Salman makes a political pitch for Indo-Pak amity by caring for a little girl from across the border.

Says a close buddy of the actor, “He is doing roles that have a certain image-consciousness about them. Earlier too he never played chichora roles. He would never misbehave with women no matter what the nature of the role. He never kissed his heroines. Now he’s doing roles that are much more than timepass. In Sooraj’s film he is the archetypal Ram from Ramayan. In Kabir’s film he is a guy who wants peace between India and Pakistan.”

So is this a new politically-conscious Salman? “It’s the same Salman. But more committed to making his films a tool for a better society,” says the actor’s friend.