Salman Khan learns Bhojpuri

From loverboy to macho man, he’s played them all with urban finesse. But can you imagine Salman Khan playing a rustic farmer from the interiors of Uttar Pradesh? Well, even the Bandra boy realises that it’ll take more than his killer charisma for the audience to find him credible in such a role.

So now he’s gone ahead and hired a Bhojpuri instructor who visits him regularly for about an hour several times a week to get his dialogue delivery right. “Salman wants to get into the skin of his character. The diction teacher is helping him get a real feel of the accent used by people living there,” says a source.

The extra effort is in no small part because of the fact that the film — Dabangg — is being made by his brother Arbaaz Khan’s production house. Arbaaz himself quipped, “The role is that of a fearless man and who else but Salman to play the lead role? He fits the bill.”

A source adds, “Salman is intent on making the film a success. He is currently working on Veer and London Dreams and has told the producers that he wants to wrap up quickly so that he can fully focus on his brother’s movie. He wants to finish pending assignments by October and has blocked three months to work in Dabangg. Besides playing the lead, Salman is also like sitting with script, brainstorming about the cast, distribution, shooting schedules and even finalising locations. He’s really putting his heart and soul in it.”