Salman Khan redefines himself with 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan'

After doing similar mindless blockbuster action comedies for years, Salman Khan has redefined himself in Bajrangi Bhaijaan. We spoke to the actor about his latest film that deals with the issue of humanity and religious identity.

Salman Khan's Eid releases are a festive celebration for his mammoth fan base in India and overseas. Over the last seven years, every film of the superstar has been shattering box office records even though critics panned each of those films. When City Times spoke to Salman Khan this time, he sounded different. After a long time, it felt that Salman really cared about the content and subject of his movie.
His latest Bajrangi Bhaijaan deals with the theme of border issues of India-Pakistan and religious identity. Salman stressed on the fact repeatedly that humanity is the real and the core backdrop of this film. "In this movie, humanity is the most important part, everything else is just the background. There is too much of animosity in our country in terms of religion and caste. No religion says that don't respect another religion. Follow your own faith but don't go after somebody else's. There is a huge attachment and incredible amount of feeling with this film. There is nothing in this world that is done without feeling. I am talking to you because I feel for you. This film is about this one person with simple beliefs and how he grows up understanding that people are good, no matter what religion or country. How our (India) people and their (Pakistan) people support this guy, as they all understand his true intentions." Issues of racism, terrorism, and Muslim identity crisis are the subjects that director Kabir Khan has explored over the years with films like Kabul Express, New York, Ek Tha Tiger and now Bajrangi Bhaijaan.
FOES TURNED FRIENDS
Director Kabir Khan and Salman worked together previously in Ek Tha Tiger. There are many famous stories that insiders of Bollywood know, of how these two could not see eye to eye during the shooting of the film. Apparently Salman kept offering his creative inputs whereas Kabir wanted to stick to his script. But towards the end of the film, they understood each other's style of thinking and eventually started respecting each other. Salman explained his point of view on his relationship with Kabir.
"I get along with Kabir Khan. We always had creative differences, which happens in every film. Like-minded people always have creative differences. It is only natural. We always got along during Ek Tha Tiger. That is why this journey and association has continued to Bajrangi Bhaijaan. If the experience would not have been good in Ek Tha Tiger, why would one want to continue the experience of working and going through the discomfort of not getting along creatively on a movie for about 150 days. We always have creative discussions where either he convinces me or I convince him. There is a way that you have to work, it only shows how involved an actor is and how involved a director is in the process of film making, that does not necessarily mean from any angle that we do not get along. We believe in creating a better world through our movies."
Before becoming a filmmaker Kabir Khan travelled around the world shooting documentaries, hence his passion of travelling is always reflected in his movies. Kabul Express, New York and Ek Tha Tiger were shot across the world and the 'city' remained an important character in his films. Salman is known to be an actor who prefers shooting in his home city Mumbai but for Bajrangi Bhaijaan, the superstar got out of his comfort zone and filmed in various locations in Kashmir, Rajasthan, New Delhi and Mumbai. "I like to shoot in and around Mumbai but with Kabir, you have to travel a lot. With Ek Tha Tiger, it was a lot of countries, but this time it was within the country. I enjoyed working on this film also because I got to travel within my country and got to see how beautiful my country is. I love being home, and I think our people are very hospitable. I am proud to be part of this country," said Salman.
NEW FRIENDS
Nawazuddin Siddiqui teams up with Salman once again after Kick. These two belong to completely different styles of acting. Nawazuddin is known to play intense and real characters, whereas Salman's movies are mostly mindless action comedies. But a special friendship has sprung up between these two. Salman apparently has helped Nawazuddin hike up his fees. He told us why he admires Nawazuddin. "I don't believe in any school of acting, I just believe that if you look the part, you are acting. Either you are natural or you have to work hard. I don't have any formal training as an actor. I went through some classes in the initial stage of my career, where my teacher Daisy Irani said that I should leave the industry, nothing will ever happen to me. From there till here, I just feel that you have to feel the character. I do not know what school of acting did Nawaz go through but the work that he has done is from what he has seen and observed. He was mentioning that for 12 years he did not have any work, so he was only observing people, I guess that is good schooling," said Salman. We wonder whether Salman is even aware that Nawazuddin studied acting from the prestigious National School of Drama.
BOX OFFICE DRAMA
Everyone knows that the fate of Bajrangi Bhaijaan is sealed and the film will break box office records. Khan himself is concerned about the box office figures. "Correct figure at the box office will only define whether the audiences have liked the film or not. If the figure is low then that will say that your work was not appreciated with the audiences, if the figure is higher that means that your hard work will pay. Whenever an artist starts his projects, he wants it to be the biggest hit, whether it's a small or a high budget film. They want miracles to happen to their film and do 100+ crores. But the films that I am doing right now are about characters that impress me, characters that bring the things that I always wanted to be but could never be."
Bajrangi Bhaijaan revolves around a young speech-impaired girl from Pakistan who finds herself lost in India with no way to head back across the border to her home. Salman undertakes the task to get her back to her home and reunite her with her family. Child actor Harshali has become a sensation amongst the audiences because of the trailer. "She is beautiful and lovely to work with. I enjoyed every moment of working with her and so did the whole unit. She was very professional; she knew the medium and how to behave," said Salman.
arti@khaleejtimes.com

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