He has always been one of the most popular stars in Bollywood. From introducing the culture of mass entertainers to creating and breaking all box office records, Salman Khan has done it all.
But with Jai Ho, things seemed to have backfired. Nevertheless, Salman returns to the screen, reprising a role that people love to watch him in. Kick, that releases next Friday has the superstar all charged up. Excerpts from an interview:
Jai Ho didnt work as expected. Was it because people failed to associate you with a serious film like Jai Ho?
Jai Ho was a serious film. What happens to a serious film is what happened to Jai Ho as well. When you make a film, it needs to be larger than your previous film. In trying to make it larger, sometimes it becomes tiring and is not convincing enough. So after Dabangg 2, we decided to make a realistic film. Somewhere along the way, Jai Ho becomes a serious film although it has the same elements as a Dabangg. The music of the film which we thought was amazing did not do well. But watching the same film on TV with your family at home is an amazing experience. Jai Ho released in January when schools start again after vacations, so people had got back to their normal routines. With Kick, we don't have that problem. Moreover, other films had ticket prices of Rs 450, Rs 950, whereas for Jai Ho we had prices at Rs 250 on the weekends and lower on the weekdays. This we now think was a big mistake! But we did it for our fans and we still stand by it.
Getting the Eid slot back yet again, how does it feel?
We were not ready with our release last year so we had to let it go. But having said that, I would add that any festive season is a very good time to release your film. Whether it's Eid or Diwali or Christmas, you have long holidays and they have the capacity to accommodate more than one film. But yes, national holidays make a huge difference to your box-office collections. You have Ramadan, there is a chunk of 8-10 days holiday during Diwali and then almost a month-long holiday during Christmas. There is also an Independence Day or a Republic Day which can add to it. Everyone's so busy with their work that holidays are the ones to look out for.
Looking at the recent trends in the way people have sensationalized news, what would you say?
Well, today it is not journalism anymore, its mere entertainment. Real life stories are not being covered because the journalists who are coming in now are writing anything they want to. It is a national concern, there is no social or a national responsibility, it is just about TRPs today. This is our fault because we are letting it happen, this is our politicians' fault because they are letting it happen. This is your fault because you are writing it and the fault of the newspaper owners who are just allowing it to be written. This is everybody's fault and above all, it's the people who are getting used to reading these kind of stories.
Kick looks slick and intriguing. Are you expecting the numbers to come in?
Following the numbers game is the most tiring thing for an actor. I don't believe in numbers at all. To be honest, each time my film releases, I just believe in it. I tell people that this is one good film which everyone should watch. That is just my job. So when my film does good box office numbers, it feels great. When it does not, we do feel sad, but it is not the end. I would keep doing films which I believe in, without thinking about how they would fare at the box office.
Post Kick, you have Sooraj Barjatya's next lined up. Tell us something about that.
It is turning out to be a lovely film. It is one of the most difficult roles I have played in recent times. It has been 13 years since I worked with Sooraj. I have changed so much - I am not that pure person anymore. I have seen a lot more. But they (the Barjatyas) still have the same innocence which they had while writing Maine Pyar Kiya way back in 1989. It is very difficult for me to become that Prem once again. This film is making me unlearn everything that I have learnt over such a long time. It is getting back to where I used to be.
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