The actor will sport five different looks in Ali Abbas Zafar’s Eid 2019 release which spans 70 years and goes on the floors in June
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 24, 2018)

Mirror had reported (October 24, 2017) that Salman Khan has booked Eid 2019 for his third collaboration with director Ali Abbas Zafar with a film titled Bharat. Now, we have learnt that the 52-year-old actor will be sporting five different looks with the help of prosthetics and VFX in the film which spans 70 years, beginning in the 1940s.

While the film is slated to kick off in June, look tests commence in the first week of February so that the team has enough time to experiment and plan it well. Ali, who has been working on it for a while now, told Mirror, “Bharat is a beautiful story seen through the eyes of Salman’s character. Since it spans seven decades, we decided to feature five extremely different looks. Each avatar will reflect the character’s transition; reflect on his life and times. We start shooting in June but prep kicks off on February 6.”

The film is an official remake of the 2014 Korean drama An Ode To My Father and is produced by Salman’s brother-in-law Atul Agnihotri. It will be shot in Punjab and Delhi as well as Abu Dhabi and Spain.

The Korean original revolved around the nation’s modern history through the life of an ordinary man as he witnesses events historical events including the Hungnam Evacuation of 1950 during the Korean War, the government’s decision to dispatch nurses and miners to West Germany in the 1960s, and the Vietnam war.

Salman is currently shooting for Remo D’souza’s Race 3 in Mumbai with co-stars Jacqueline Fernandez, Bobby Deol, Daisy Shah, Saqib Saleem and Freddy Daruwala. The team is also slated to head to Bangkok, Abu Dhabi and Dubai for extensive schedules in the coming months. He is also expected to kick off Dabangg 3, directed by Prabhu Dheva and produced by brother Arbaaz, later this year, besides bringing back his reality show Dus Ka Dum with its third season in June.

Speaking about why he chose not to direct Bharat, Atul Agnihotri had earlier told Mirror (October 24, 2017) “I feel I contribute better as a producer. Ali is a friend, I love his work and eventually it’s all about connecting with the source. If you speak to him, you will realise that Ali is far more passionate about the material.”