From Maine Pyaar Kiya to now,Salman stays the action hero forever. Actually, you’ve grown fitter over the years, haven’t you?
Yes. But it’s becoming very difficult now. I used to play many sports at that time, used to work out a lot. And then I used that to put a lot of children from the roads into gyms, I think, from having them watch me, from making fitness aspirational. Now, I’m going to take it to a different level with football and cricket. If I could do it then, I’m sure I can do it again.
Becoming the ambassador for football – was it a spontaneous call, ya soch ke Delhi aaye the?
Na na na. Mera koi decision soch ke nahin hota... mujhe jo karna hai, it’s all impulsive. Joh cheez jis waqt right lagti hai, woh main karta hoon.’
Did you decide in the stadium that you wanted to be the ambassador for soccer?
Nahin, uske pehle socha thaa, isliye stadium gaya thaa. The idea appealed to me. And Praful (Patel) is a dear friend, and also the chief of the Football Association right now – he felt that if I could get guys into the gym, I could get them onto the football field as well. The first sporting passion of most kids is football. You just need a ball and a ground.
The last Bollywood hero to become a sporting ambassador was Suniel Shetty, who supposedly became the brand ambassador for hockey. And that was the last one heard of it...
Achha? I’m not too clued in to that. But if I give my name to something, I’ll make sure I give it my one hundred per cent, yaar.
The IPL question: are you or are you not acquiring a team?
Bid karenge. Bid zaroor karenge. Agar bid mein mil gaya, toh team le lenge.
For football, you aren’t charging, it’s close to your heart... But IPL is a business investment. Yeh khayaal kahaan se aaya?
Dekhiye, as far as this goes, I’m going to do it at a different level altogether. One can raise a lot of money through this as well. There are many multinational companies who like to be associated with this, through logos, sponsorships and all that.
Bidding went up to 400 crores for some of the bigger teams last time. Do you have that sort of money in mind?
Itna? Nahin, itna budget toh nahin hai. If it goes to these levels then I can’t afford it! Let’s see.
And how long will you answer the question – are you following SRK?
See, I came into cinema first. Does that mean he followed me into the film industry? Or that we both followed Amitji or Dilip saab into movies?
Ek cheez achhi lagi, usme chale gaye, bas... Main hamesha apne se umar mein kam samajhta thaa lekin recently pata chala ki mujhse ek mahina bada hai woh – iska matlab yeh thode hai ki is duniya mein main isliye aaya kyunki woh aaye the pehle... Anyways, agar unki, ya kisi ki, yeh soch hai, toh unko mubarak ho.
TV would love a match between SRK’s and Salman’s teams, wouldn’t it, with all the undercurrents?
But it’s not as sharp as it’s made out to be. It’s very okay. He’s very respectful to my dad. My sisters-in-law, his wife, they’re very comfortable with each other, we don’t ask or influence them to be otherwise. It’s just that we’re not very comfortable with each other. And I’m sure he’s right where he is, and I’m right where I am.
We won’t see a Karan Arjun again?
Who knows what the future holds?
You won’t back out if you’re offered a movie with SRK?
No, no... I’m above all these things, yaar, these insecurities and all that...
Self-confessed Primitive Man, possessive man, outspoken guy... your dad was ribbing you about dating heroines and expecting them to behave like stay-at-home girls. You let Katrina do what she wants? You really don’t have a hassle with her acting opposite SRK?
No, I’ve never stopped her from doing a film with John or with anybody else, it’s her life, her career, but I’ve just put my foot down on one idiot.
And that is?
Vivek (Oberoi).
Hasn’t he been trying to patch up for eternity?
Arre woh drama-shama karta hai, kaan pakadta hai, you know what all he does... there’s no meaning to it, it’s all... you know what I think of it.
Comfortable reinventing yourself as an ‘action hero’ at 44 with Wanted?
Hey, I’ve just restarted my career once again! Seriously, I haven’t done an action film in the longest time, and I think to stay fit I should do these films. Yeh sab romantic films karte raho, romantic scene mein paani ke andar se nikal kar aaye bare-chested, yeh sab theek hai. But to stay actually fit, bhaga-daudi, maara-maari, it takes a lot of energy, that’s what I wanted to do. Like when shooting for Veer, subah 6 baje I would get onto the horse and dismount at midnight... bechara ghoda!
What’s the fanatical gymming regime like?
Two hours or so almost, each day.
And sleep?
I’m fortunate, I get three hours or so each day. Then I sleep in instalments. Fifteen minutes here and there. Teen-chaar minute, shot ke pehle, baithe-baithe, khade hue, kabhi bhi.
How do you manage to live on three hours of sleep a day?
Chal jaata hai... jab mar jayenge tab ek baar theek se so lenge.
You’ve told people, bhai nahin bolne ka. What’s the affront there?
See, my name is Salman. Sohail calls me bhai, younger people around me call me bhai, that’s okay. But increasingly I’ve noticed that it’s becoming part of my name – I’m not ‘Salmanbhai’, okay?
Ya, sounds like a don...
Arre, not that way, they say it as a sign of respect!
Right...
The kids call me Salman, you realise? Just Salman. And when senior people, colleagues, older people begin calling me Salmanbhai, I get very uncomfortable, I say, this is not happening. Of course it’s not about taking offence. Bhai means they trust me, they believe in me... It’s like they call Sanju baba – Sanju baba is 50, but they all treat him like a little baby. Suniel is called anna, big brother. It’s about that sentiment you evoke in others.
Sanju baba has taken very clear political lines. SRK is seen to have clear political preferences and friendships. You must’ve had offers to join up too... You campaigned for people from several political groups in the last elections...
This is not for me. I have a lot of friends from the political world, but it’s not for me to join in. Yes, I campaign for people who I believe do outstanding work. I campaigned for Kamal Nath, for Anju, and for others I believed would make a difference. The people must believe that I am standing by someone because I believe he or she will do good for them. I have lots of friends who called me, but I know that if I go there and campaign, they will win the election, but they will do nothing, so I didn’t go.
So you rejected requests from friends to campaign for them?
Yes.
Nobody asks you to fight the elections?
I was asked to stand (for elections). But I didn’t want to. My job is here, as an actor. I don’t know anything about how to run the country. It’s not my cup of tea, boss!
Emraan feels he is discriminated against in India, SRK was angry at being singled out abroad...
The audience doesn’t take us as Muslim, it says, yeh Salman hai, hamara star hai, hamara bhai hai. If my sister got married to a Hindu (Alvira Khan is married to Atul Agnihotri), it’s her choice, he’s a good man, he’s a super guy, we love him and respect him. If she’d wanted to marry a Muslim guy, that would’ve been super too. But we wouldn’t want to have her married off to someone who may not be a good husband or a good father just because he is a Muslim. On screen we always play Prem, Rahul, Radhe... 90 per cent population which is non-Muslim, usne toh banaya hai humko star. So I don’t believe in all this.
But there is a very, very minute population of people who have no idea of what the religion is about, who have their own idea of it and of what they want to do, who have made life difficult for Muslims.
You don’t get hassled travelling because your name is Khan?
If you have to go to a particular country, you should be prepared to respect their rules. Mere saath toh India mein hi kitna kuch hua hai. Jin cheezon mein main involve nahin tha, unme things were blown out of proportion because I was a star. Main Jodhpur jaata hoon for hearings, Mumbai mein case chal raha hai... but at least on that account people think that if this can happen to Salman, it can happen to us, so cases of hunting or drunken driving come down significantly.
The rounds of courts continue?
Nau saal ho gaye...
It becomes a media trial. Hum khud nahin baat kar sakte hain about any detail because it is subjudice. Lekin baaki saari duniya baat karti hai. Aapne do galat article likh diye mere bare mein toh judge sahib ne dekhe hain.... Woh kahin na kahin influence kar jaate hain.
In any high-profile celeb case in a small court, if you let the person get away, the media will hound the court and say, how can you let him get away, he is powerful, has connections, etc, etc. If the star is thrown in prison, then also the media will start off, saying fans are upset, the case is not strong enough, you are just making an example out of him. So it’s a Catch-22 situation even for the authorities in cases involving stars... We need people to take a stand.
You’ve not been in the news for controversy for some time. Doesn’t that feel strange?
Haan, kaafi time se koi gul nahi khila hai. Main kaafi time se kisi galat jagah pe galat time pe nahi mila hoon.
A girl was saying ‘Main aapko apna pati maan chuki hoon’ today. How do you handle that sort of thing?
It’s scary, man, I don’t know how to handle it, I just don’t.
You get letters written in blood and all that sort of stuff?
Yes, that is why I stopped answering my fan mail. Yeh pehle bahut hota tha. I don’t like that sort of stuff. I can’t handle it.
You should stay single, actually, then girls can keep telling you they consider you their husband!
Yaar agar kaagaz pe sign karna shaadi hai, toh maaf kar do mujhe, ki nahin hui shaadi meri. Waise toh agar divorce bhi sirf sign karne se hota, bahut se logon ke divorce ho chuke hain, bas papers sign nahin huye hain!
Hum abhi paperwork tak aaye nahin hain... when people stay together and break up, it is also like a marriage and divorce, bas functions nahin hote!
ANSHUL CHATURVEDI , TNN, Sep 4, 2009, 12.00am IST
one of the best article...
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