Salman Khan on why his next collaboration with Sanjay Leela Bhansali was called off three days before it was to roll
Hiren Kotwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 27, 2019)

Since it was announced, Inshallah ( In-shaa-Allah as spelt by SLB), Salman Khan and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s collaboration 20 years after Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), has been grabbing headlines. With Alia Bhatt as the leading lady, the film was to take off on Wednesday. But on Sunday night, the actor tweeted, “The film with Sanjay Leela Bhansali is pushed but I will still see you all on Eid, 2020. Insha-Allah!! (sic).” The post had rumour mills buzzing, more so following a statement on Tuesday afternoon from the director: “Bhansali Productions has decided to not go ahead with Inshaa-Allah for now… Further announcement will be out soon… God Willing (sic).”

While the development has shocked the film fraternity and the audience, a source privy to the development informed Mirror that the decision was mutually taken by the actor and the filmmaker after an amicable closed-door meeting. By then, satellite and digital rights had been sold and sets built in different studios. After looking at the complete picture before shooting began, they figured that instead of In-sha-Allah, they’d prefer to collaborate on another project in the future.

Salman and SLB's friendship blossomed during their first film together, the latter's directorial debut, Khamoshi: The Musical. They went on to make Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam during which friction erupted when SLB succumbed to pressure from his distributors and Aishwarya Rai’s character Nandini went back to her husband Vanraj (Ajay Devgn) instead of reuniting with Salman’s Sameer. Buzz is, Salman wasn’t happy about Shah Rukh Khan bagging SLB’s Devdas either and dropped out of his Bajirao Mastani, planned with him in the lead. They put their differences aside when Salman agreed to a special appearance in Saawariya, Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor’s debut film, in 2007, and subsequently agreed to collaborate on an adaptation of the Hollywood film, The Prestige, till SLB chose to cast Hrithik Roshan in Guzaarish (2010). In an interview to Mirror (March 20, 2019) the filmmaker had admitted that they have had a few issues in the past. “But whenever we met, even sporadically, we picked up from where we’d left off without dwelling on the past and the differences of opinion we might have had. My fondness for him is pure, and Salman, once he offers his friendship, even if you don’t meet or talk in five years, he’s there waiting for you.” The previous day, they had officially announced their fourth collaboration together, In-shaa-Allah, in which Salman was reportedly playing an Orlando-based businessman with Alia as a 20-something aspiring actress from Varanasi.

In the same interview, SLB said that from his understanding of Salman as a man, an actor and as a superstar, In-shaa-Allah was the right film for them to collaborate on. “I’ve been working on it for the last year-and-a-half, starting three months before Padmaavat released, to take my mind off things that were happening at that time. I wrote and reworked it till I felt it was ready, then, went to him,” he had informed. Salman was quick to give his nod to the project.

But a few weeks ago, reports started coming in about financial issues and creative disagreements between the duo. However, according to a source, “Salman didn’t insist, forget dictate, any changes in the script but Bhansali and he have amicably decided to not make this film for now”.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday evening, Salman announced, “Itna mat sochna mere baare mein, Dil mein aata hoon.. aur Eid pe bhi (sic).” Since the cryptic tweet was strongly reminiscent of a punchline from Kick, “Mere baare mein itna mat sochna, Main dil mein aata hoon, samajh mein nahin”, which released on Eid 2014, it fuelled speculations that the actor was planning to push Sajid Nadiadwala’s Kick sequel, which had been initially announced as a Christmas 2019 release, to Eid 2020. But according to the source, the tweet was made in jest.

“Salman has shortlisted two subjects and will take a call on which film he wants to make next and announce it soon. Shooting of Dabangg 3 is almost complete, he’s looking to start his Eid 2020 outing next month,” added the source.

While Salman remained non-committal on his Eid 2020 release, he cleared the air on In-shaa-Allah while talking to Mirror. “Sanjay was a friend even before we started working on Khamoshi. He had come to meet me through Manisha Koirala. After that, we collaborated on Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. When he came to me with this film, I liked it and we decided to work together again. One thing I can say is that Sanjay won’t do gaddaari with his film. I want him to make the film he wants to make. Nothing changes between us as friends and I’m sure nothing has changed in Sanjay’s heart for me. I’m extremely close to his mother (Leela) and sister (Bela). I wish him all the best. He and I will still work in future on a film, Inshallah,” Salman said.