Salman Khan admits he has changed a lot over the years, opens up about future projects, joking that Dabangg will stop at 743rd instalment
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 22, 2019)

He’s the boss even in a makeshift shamiana in the parking lot of a city studio. The night is young, and the mood is mellow. As he gears up to embark on a six-decade cinematic journey, Salman Khan, as always, is full of surprises. He cracks jokes with a straight face, shares changes that he’s noticed in himself without the slightest discomfiture and reveals plans that sound impossible but with Salman you can never tell. Excerpts from an interview:

Your director Ali Abbas Zafar has said that Bharat is a film that could only be made with you because of the beautiful relationship you share with your father (Salim Khan)?
Everyone shares a beautiful relationship with their parents. So, this film could have been made with anyone and they would have done complete justice to the film because the script is so beautiful. Ab bolne ke liye it can be said that because I share a beautiful relationship with my father, mother, sisters, brothers and friends I was the only choice but the fact is that had anyone else done it, it would have turned out just this way, maybe better.

It’s an official adaptation of a Korean film, Ode To My Father…
We’ve taken the rights of that film, but it’s changed a lot. Their culture is different from ours and when you adapt it, scenes change, moments change, the screenplay changes. But the plot has remained the same.

Having written stories and screenplays yourself, what was it about this one that caught your attention?
My visual of this film is that of two old men standing together at the end with tears in their eyes. Beta bhi buddha, baap aur buddha.. Since the age of nine, this guy has been waiting for something like this to happen…

Ali says he now has a two-hero script for a film which he’d like to make with Shah Rukh Khan and you.
I don’t know anything about this. At the moment there’s only Bharat.

What does the word Bharat mean to you?
It means my country, the country I love, and what I can do for it.

Every year on Eid you come with a film which is like a gift... an Eidi for your fans.
Films arrive during every festival, whenever one is ready, aa jaate hain. Dabangg 3 will come this Christmas and I’ve had releases during Diwali too. It’s just a coincidence that some of my films have opened around this time which makes people say that Eid is booked by Salman Khan. Arre any actor can come during the festival, it’s a good date, a holiday, when people have got their salaries and their bonuses. Since this is the only entertainment we have, they come flocking to see their favourite heroes. It’s strange, when you are watching something on the digital platform, you watch alone, but when it’s a film, you always take family or friends along. Picture sab saath mein baith ke dekhte hain aur isse bonding ho jaati hai theatre ke andar.

What kind of films did you grow up watching?
The kind of films I’m making right now, and I went to the theatres to watch them. And believe me, the best kind of marketing for a film is still in-theatre promotion. The posters we saw in the foyer and the trailers we waited for, are what draw cinegoers. People come to the theatres to watch films all the time and for them posters must be tangaoed and trailers chalaoed so they know what’s arriving next.

There’s another Korean film, Veteran, around a detective and a crime syndicate…
Yeah, it’s an outstanding film. Atul (producer brother-in-law Atul Agnihotri) has acquired the rights of both Ode To My Father and Veteran.

Will you feature in the Hindi adaptation of Veteran too?
We will see about that.

Dabangg 3 traces how neighbourhood rowdy Chulbul became Inspector Robinhood Pandey. What triggered off the idea of a prequel?
The plot was in our minds when we were writing Dabangg.

So the franchise was conceived as a three-part series.
No, the first and the second parts which were linked lead up to the third. It was like iske baad yeh hoga aur third mein yeh hona chahiye.

So there’s going to be a Dabangg 4, 5,6… Where do you stop?
We will stop at (after pondering for a moment) Dabangg 743.

It will spin for 700 years?
(With a naughty twinkle) No, we will finish everything now.

Ek saal mein kitne aayenge?
(Smiling) Aa jayenge.

The TV show, Bigg Boss, has become synonymous with you but buzz is, you will not be hosting this season. True?
I wish it were true but I’m doing it.

What do you enjoy about getting people into the house every year?
I don’t enjoy it. Endemol and Colors enjoy picking up people and putting them in the house who I have to then deal with. Sometimes I enjoy it, sometimes I don’t enjoy it, not at all. But I get to learn a lot from them.

Would you allow anyone to lock you into a house like that?
I would never allow it, but unfortunately, I don’t have a choice. They do come and pick me up and block me.

Not anymore…
No? I hope not.

As an actor you’re always playing characters written for you, in the process don’t you lose sight of the real Salman Khan?
People write different characters for me and I think I am doing them differently, but they all turn out the same. That’s my speciality! Kitna bhi different le kar aao, they all end up looking alike.

As Ali says, even when you are playing a character, Salman Khan doesn’t disappear 100 per cent. Perhaps that’s what your fans like…
They come to see Salman Khan, but they need to see who I really am. Who am I? Even I don’t know myself. I have no idea.

So you see a lot of changes in Salman today from the one who did Maine Pyar Kiya?
Oh, yes.

But your director, Sooraj Barjatya, says he saw the same “beautiful soul” of Maine Pyar Kiya a quarter of a century later in Prem Ratan Dhan Payo…
Sooraj sees what he is in others. He has not lost his innocence and his niceness. But I know that naivety in me disappeared a long time ago. I see a huge change in me and that’s how it should be. You can’t have the same innocence at this age, you will look like an idiot.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali who is reuniting with you on Inshallah after almost two decades mentioned that you simply picked up from where you had left off…
That’s how it should be, whenever he and I meet, there is this connect It’s just not an actor-director relationship. Just because he was working with other actors, it didn’t have to hamper or spoil our equation. I work with other directors too, so should he. Now we will be collaborating on this very sweet love story.

The film pairs you with one of the most promising young talents we’ve had in recent years…
See how she’s turned it around, from a student to now, it’s beautiful! And no one can take credit for her growth except Alia Bhatt herself. Jo bhi bole humne usko banaya hai, is not to be believed. It’s Alia who has honed her talent.

What’s it like to be working with this bundle of talent?
A godown of talent will be meeting with a bundle of talent… (Laughs) Actually there’s no talent here.

Tiger Zinda Hai 3 is expected to start soon...
It might, I’ve still to hear the script. Right now, I have two films.

Will Katrina Kaif return?
Of course. Dabangg will always have Sonakshi (Sinha), Jackie (Jacqueline Fernandez) will always be a part of Kick and Tiger can never be made without Katrina.

Talking of Jacqueline you brought art into her life…
(Smiles) Yeah, she was painting a lot during Race 3.

Planning to share some of your paintings with the world?
There’s just no time to paint now but in around three months time I’ll have an exhibition for sure.

What about your other ventures? There was talk of you starting a restaurant…
Restaurant? No, that’s not on the cards, but we are retailing in clothing, jewellery, gyms and equipment, with the focus being on quality and durability. Mashallah, all the ventures are doing well with plans of getting much bigger.

As a producer you recently gave your nod to a romcom revolving around a wedding to be directed by Rohit Naiyar…
Rohit was the assistant director on two films I’d done with Raj Kanwar. Minutes into the narration I stood up and began laughing. It’s one of the funniest scripts I have heard.

Your wedding has become a national concern….
Yeah, I think I should announce it on May 23… (Laughs)

Seriously, any plans?
Not for some time.

And children? You love them…
(Smiles) I want children, but with children comes the mother. I don’t want the mother, but they need one. But I have a whole village to take care of them. Maybe I can work out a win-win situation for everyone.