Find out the one thing you never knew about Salman Khan!

Known for his disarming candour and unabashed straight-forwardness, Salman Khan’s interviews are always fun. For one small reason. He speaks direct dil se. And here’re some interesting revelations he made when we sat him down recently for an interview.

Are you any different at home from the way you are outside?
The way I am with my family, I am the same outside. I understand all the stardom, my films are doing well and all of that. But that guy on screen has nothing to do with me. I go, do my stuff, the films do well. Then I am like this. I don’t go inside my van too often because I don’t like sitting inside my vanity van. I sit outside, I live in the farm. That stardom has not hit me yet and I hope it doesn’t hit me.

But there must be something for sure…
I do have this façade of this look which people associate me with. Of this angry man which used to keep people away from me. Because if I didn’t, they would be doing this to me (pulls my cheeks). And it was being done to me for the longest time. Baal banake aaya and then suddenly someone will say, ‘Beta, aashirwad.’ (Laughs) Then cheeks being pressed, I used to hate all of that. That’s when the look came into existence. But at home, we are not like this at all. Still, when people see a nice, sweet film, they will come and hug me saying, ‘Arre, tu toh mere bete jaisa hai.’ And then the coochie-cooing will start. (Jokes) have turned 27 now, at least have some respect for an old man, yaar! (Laughs)

Talking about family, do you sort out all the issues between your siblings?
I don’t manage them at all. My father does and he does it really well. Fortunately, we have not faced those problems yet because if anything comes up, it’s solved right then and there. Touchwood, so far we’ve been lucky.

What’s the one thing about Salman not many know about?
Honestly, log pitenge mujhe iske baad. But I sleep during my own films. At all my screenings, I end up falling asleep. And this also means that I fall asleep in others’ films too. (Laughs out loud).

You’re doing some definitive films now. Is there any genre you want to try next?
Yes. I would love to do romance. Both on screen and off screen (adds cheekily).

But you’re the universal Bhai…
Areh yaar, main wohi pe maar kha jaata hoon! (Laughs) Bhai has started from Sohail. As soon as the levels started increasing, they started calling me Bhai. But the younger generation, the kids, they call me Salman! They call me Salman Khan. They don’t call me Bhai-Wai. It’s the older generation who calls me that and I’m like, ‘Tum log kyun Bhai bula rahe ho mujhe?’ But previously, Bhai was in a very negative connotation. Today, the word Bhai means someone you can look up to, someone who can show you the right path. So if I can stand up to that, there would be nothing better than that. My sister told me that if you don’t stand upto the respect the fans have given you who call you Salman bhai, I will disown you as a brother. And that’s my only goal right now. To see that my sister doesn’t disown me. (Smiles)

But you have always played a larger-than-life hero in most films…
See, any character who is backed by a good director, a good writer, good starcast and a superb backdrop with the background music and the 70mm screen is automatically look larger than life. So, when you see me on screen, I will automatically seem to be a larger than life hero. That’s the beauty of cinema. Just because he is a guy from a simple family, and is a simpleton, that doesn’t mean he can’t be large. The character might be of  good man. But a good man is a fool. Who bolte hai na ki accha banda hai bechara. That bechara word is like pitying his goodness. But you can have a good man who won’t take your bullshit. That’s where these characters stem from.

Have your choices altered in any way?
No. But the films that I am choosing right now are the ones where the characters inspire me. So by the time I am done with that film, I want to be that guy. Even if I can’t be 100 per cent, I need to have at least something of him in me. And all our movies deal with emotions, so humare film ke andar jo scenes hote hai who humare life ke andar aa hi jaate hai. Even the fights in the Bigg Boss house are a reflection of what happens in our lives as well. But in movies, the reactions are perfectly written. And if you can implement the same strategy in real life, you are a winner!

Do you think it’s difficult for actors to survive in the industry today?
It is always difficult for everyone to survive in the industry. Not only a few handful of people. You see people who have not made it at all. Then they use stuff like, ‘You know how it works. They have somebody from their family in the industry, godfathers hai. Humare toh koi nahi hai.’ Humara kaun sa godfather tha bhai? Shah Rukh Khan ka kaun tha? Aamir Khan ka kaun godfather tha? Aaj Akshay Kumar superstar kaise bana? Ajay Devgn is a fight master’s son, I am a writer’s son, Shahid Kapoor is a character artist’s son. Big star sons have not worked. The fans will decide whether they will buy that ticket or not. Yeh kisi ki jaagir nahi hai. It’s difficult for everyone to be here where we are. The more difficult it gets, the better it is for us. We will improve our quality of cinema.