Nayandeep Rakshit (DNA; January 16, 2018)

Salman Khan and Ali Abbas Zafar, who have collaborated on two films (Sultan and Tiger Zinda Hai), are all set to team up again for Bharat, which is being produced by brother-in-law Atul Agnihotri. While previously, Salman and Ali upped the ante with some great stunt sequences, this time too they have something unique up their sleeve.

The story of Bharat chronicles Salman’s journey from the age of 18 to 70. Currently, the team is busy with the groundwork for the film. Ali reveals, “We have just locked the script. The idea is to make Salman look the way he appeared in Maine Pyar Kiya — from the time he began his career to now. But we will know how much we can achieve only after our complete research is done.”

The makers will reportedly use an age-reduction technique to achieve what they have envisioned. “We are in talks with the prosthetics and VFX team of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. They had worked on the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Fan, too,” adds Ali.

In an earlier interview to this paper, Salman had said that he hates using prosthetics as it aggravates his nerve disorder (trigeminal neuralgia). About this, Ali tells us, “I know Salman doesn’t like a lot of prosthetics and make-up, so we will have to design something that doesn’t bother him too much because he’s the central character. We are figuring out other ways of doing it. Benjamin Button came a decade ago and during this time, a lot has happened with respect to technology. Many things can be done with VFX. So, we might not need too much prosthetics or make-up.”

The filmmaker is hopeful that Salman will surprise his fans once again with this film. “He’s such a good-looking man. He will work a little harder, as I keep pushing him to lose more weight and look younger. He can reduce weight and look 10 years younger within four weeks,” smiles Ali.

Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; December 13, 2017)

Amidst rumours that he will be playing father to Salman Khan in Race 3, Anil Kapoor says that he doesn’t understand the industry’s obsession with essaying young characters on screen. The actor, who did not bat an eyelid before playing the stern patriarch to Priyanka Chopra and Ranveer Singh in Dil Dhadakne Do (2015), says he has “never been delusional” about his age. “Throughout my career, I have done roles that suit my personality and I feel that is the reason for the longevity of my career. I always look at the script and my character. The character can be that of a father, grandfather, son or even an uncle — it doesn’t matter to me,” he reasons.

From Brad Pitt playing an 80-year-old in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) to Diane Lane playing Clark Kent’s mother in Man Of Steel (2013), Kapoor points out how, in Hollywood, the onscreen age of an artiste is not a criterion while choosing scripts. “It is only in India that these things are given importance. In the West, no one questions an actor playing an older role.”

Over the weekend, Kapoor hosted the season premiere of The Grand Tour, a British motoring television series for Amazon Video. Having understood the potential of the Internet, the actor is set to announce a web series under his banner. “Web streaming platforms are the future. We already have so many web shows that people are consuming. This is another avenue that has opened up the market in a big way.”

Nayandeep Rakshit (DNA; September 8, 2017)

Salman Khan might be busy wrapping up Tiger Zinda Hai, but the actor’s schedule for the next year has been decided. He will soon begin Remo D’Souza’s Race 3 and once he finishes the speed thriller, he will begin work on sister Alvira Agnihotri and brother-in-law Atul Agnihotri’s production titled Bharat.

The film, which is an official remake of the Korean film Ode To My Father, will have a period setting. “It is set against the backdrop of the India-Pakistan Partition and will continue to the present day. And so, Salman will be seen ageing through the film. So, he will have different looks throughout the film, depicting various ages,” says our source.

But there will be a huge surprise in store for his fans. Salman will start off as a teenager and the story will trace his life till he becomes a senior citizen. The source adds, “It will be a combination of prosthetics and age-reduction technology. The makers are getting a special team that will do the prosthetics for the film. For the CGI, the makers are going to use the same technique that the makers of The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button used to show different ages of Brad Pitt in the film. But it’s not the same special effects team from Hollywood. They are just using the same technique.”