Salman Khan talks about 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan', 'Prem Ratan Dhan Payo', 'Sultan' and 'Dabangg 3'

Bajrangi Bhaijaan is a film close to Salman Khan’s heart. “This film guarantees a rush of emotions in everyone. It also helped me rethink the choices I was making with my films. As much as I am happy doing larger-than-life roles, I wanted to do more simplistic, beautiful cinema like these now.”

What’s next for Salman, then? He tells us, “Next is Prem Ratan Dhan Payo in November and then we have Sultan. After that, I think there will simultaneously be Atul and Arbaaz’s films” In a candid tête-à-tête, Salman Khan updates After Hrs about his film lineup and also reveals exclusive details about the films.

PREM RATAN DHAN PAYO

The actor feels Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo are both on the same lines. He explains, “Both are aggressive, angry characters. Yeh nahi hai ke sharif hai toh tapli marke chale jao. Yeh sab nahi hone deta. That’s similar for both the films. Even PRDP has a different level of niceness, but you cannot mess with him because he’s not a bewakoof or a bechara.”
He particularly loves Sooraj Barjatya’s portrayal of innocence. “When Sooraj does it, he does it so easily. When he was narrating the scene to me and showing me what to do, it’s just him and it comes out so easy and beautifully that I tell him, ‘You only do it yaar!’. His films and their emotions are so real. When I do it, I feel it’s looking slightly fraudish. So for that, you have to feel the character and Sooraj’s energy.” PRDP and BB happened at a time when Salman himself was going through a turbulent phase in his life. “Both these films are like cleansing processes for me. People go for teerth yatra or Haj karke aa jayenge and waapas aake 99% raste pe lag jayenge. They will be back to jhol-wol and all that. I see the larger picture in these films because they are the correct way to be. You can see the difference in these and hold me responsible for this later. You can tell me baad mein, ‘Aapne bola that you will be a better guy after these films, toh usko de diya?’ Better guy aur dene mein kya hota hai?”

SULTAN

The first look teaser promo is out and Sultan’s already created a fan frenzy, Essaying the role of Sultan Ali Khan in the film, Salman in an interview has already called it the most challenging role of his life. Ask him about it and he laughs, “I say these films so that my competitors feel that isne bahut mehnat kari hai. The preparation is just one thing right now, I am training for which I have messed up my back and my shoulder already. But that will all go, it’s all muscular. That’s it right now. Rest of it will come on the sets. It will be like, ‘Kya dialogue hai? Kitna bolna hai? Chalo take karo!’ I am not doing any Dabangg kind of a film ki moochein lagaa li ya kuch bhi. That’s easy. The most difficult thing in life is to have the innocence that you have lost over the years. That is until you can feel the character, look, walk and talk the character. Otherwise, it’s farzi ke liye, toh mat karo.”

ATUL’s NEXT

Atul Agnihotri too has announced his next film with Salman Khan. While most thought it a sequel to their famous Bodyguard, Salman quashed all such rumours. “No, it’s not Bodyguard 2. We have just finished the script and it’s beautiful. It’s at par with these two films (PRDP and BB) as far as the emotional content is concerned.”

THIRD FILM WITH KABIR

Bajrangi Bhaijaan releases in about a week or so and Salman’s already greenlit his third film with Kabir. When asked about it, he gently teased, “I did a second film with Kabir because I didn’t like the experience of working with him the first time. So to better the second one, maybe we will do a third film too,” he laughed.

NO ENTRY MEIN ENTRY

This has possibly been one of the most-delayed projects. While there were numerous reports of Salman walking out of the project, despite Boney having the script and his cast in place, Salman tells us a different story altogether. “The script is not ready yet, so once they lock the script, I will be ready to start shooting for the film, too,” he says.

DABANGG 3

Bajrangi releases this Eid, he’s booked Sultan for Eid next year and Arbaaz has already announced that Dabangg 3 will release on Eid 2017. But Salman does not have a clue about the same. “Really? Mujhe toh bhaiya yeh kisi ne nahi bataaya! As of now, nothing’s fixed yet.” But he does reveal that for Dabangg 3, he had channelised a very different idea. “Having a prequel to show how Chulbul Pandey actually became Robinhood is my idea. That’s my thought of it. Arbaaz and me are still talking about it. So let’s see what happens.”

SAJID’s NEXT

Another film that has been the talking point after Salman remarked that Jacqueline Fernanandez was ‘kicked’ out of his next film with Sajid. Ask Salman and he laughs it off again. “I can tell you this much that we are planning a film together, but it’s not a sequel to Kick. Aajkal kuch bhi joke karo toh koi kuch bhi likh deta hai.”