MID-DAY (November 26, 2016)

When Sultan director Ali Abbas Zafar narrated the film’s story to Sylvester Stallone during a trip to Los Angeles, the Hollywood star said the story could be made for the American audience.

Ali made the revelation at the ongoing 47th edition of International Film Festival of India where Sultan was screened. The Salman Khan and Anushka Sharma-starrer, which released on Eid this year, became a blockbuster hit, collecting close to Rs 300 crore at the box office.

“I met Stallone, while doing research and getting my martial arts team from LA. I met him for a brief interaction and he kind of heard the story. He said, 'Wow, what a story. This could be a story which can easily be done in America’ since it’s about an underdog who has lost everything and is trying to get his self esteem back,” he said.

The film was also screened recently at Busan film festival. Ali added, “If the stories have a universal appeal, they will travel. I believe the story travels everywhere irrespective of the language. There is a certain way we do films. It has got songs and a lot of other elements, but I think that’s what West likes.”