Salman Khan – The Enigma They All Love

With “Bodyguard” and “Ready” unbeaten in the box-office stakes, “RA.One” and “Rockstar” out of the reckoning and “Don 2” and “Desi Boyz” not considered great threats to these whoppers at the box-office even if they become major hits, the question that arises again is: What makes Salman Khan’s films tick? And the question simply boils down to What Makes Salman Khan Tick? Correction: What Makes Salman Khan?

India-West spoke to people close to Salman Khan when he was away shooting for “Ek Tha Tiger.” 

SALIM KHAN, Father:

“It is difficult to speak about your son when he is such a big star. If I praise him, I should not sound like an indulgent father. And if I do mention some qualities that I do not like and become absolutely objective, I might hurt or discourage him! I have to strike a balance and perhaps try to see him as everyone else does, or like I would see Dilip Kumar or Amitabh Bachchan,” Khan told India-West.

“People ask me, what do I think of his ‘sudden’ success? I do not know what to say because to me Salman has been successful since ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’! To me then, there was a lot of apprehension whether Salman would make it, because the count of those who do not become successful runs into millions. He was stepping into a risky profession and any failure could shatter his confidence. Very few failures assess themselves clinically and change their profession like I did, after seven years of failure as an actor. And I went to an allied profession, that is, within cinema itself and became a success based on certain indications of a flair for writing stories.

“But in the last 20 years, Salman has made it to the list of those four of five biggest stars. When he first made it, however, it was worry afresh for a father: Will he make the right choices? Will he work hard? Will he look after himself? And will success go to his head? Because the entertainment business is serious business!

“I strongly feel that in the last few years before ‘Wanted’ he had done several indifferent films and that he was not living up to his promise, so I am happy that he has now realized his mistakes.

“I firmly believe that everyone should learn from their own experiences. My children come to me only when they hit roadblocks or are cornered and that’s how it should be: I am happy that they do not come to me for every small trouble for advice! To learn to swim, you have to step into water yourself.

“Salman and I are like friends. We have a wonderful relationship and we drink and celebrate together and we do not need any company or entertainment when we are together. My son is a bundle of contradictions with respect to what he looks for in a woman. He looks for echoes of his mother but one cannot expect the ambitious actresses to whom he had given his heart to become housewives — they are people who want to reach certain heights in their professions. That, I think, explains why he has yet to find a woman who can be his wife.

“Like Arbaaz and Sohail, Salman has seen my stardom as a writer right from childhood and so all of them are grounded. But now that he is such a big star, it is more the family’s responsibility than Salman’s to adjust to his status in the interest of the relationship. No relationship can be static — each one undergoes a lot of changes. As a star, his parents, brothers and closest family members and friends must have a certain decorum, especially in public, when we interact with him. I think that my family and I are clear about this and that is why we are all very close to each other.”

SAJID (on behalf of SAJID-WAJID), Composers

“What can we say about Salman Khan? Suraj ko kabhi aaina dikhaate hai kya? We knew that the level at which he is today was a matter of time, because Salman-bhai has always been true to himself.

“He has always been an elder brother to us. As a man, unnki achhai uss level ki hai ki unnke baaya haath nahin jaanta ki daaya haath kya kya kar raha hai — that is, he is very discreet in all the noble things that he does.

“Today, when a new film of Shah Rukh Khan releases, people say, ‘Shah Rukh ki film lag rahi hai. Kya dikhta hai Shah Rukh! Chalo picture dekhte hain!’ When Aamir’s film comes, they say, ‘Aamir ki picture hai, kuch to hoga, let’s go and watch it.’ But when Salman’s film comes, the sentiment from kids to young people to old men and women is: ‘Apne Salman-bhai ki film aayi hai. Chalo dekhe!’ That’s the kind of emotion he evokes, and that’s because, like with Rajnikanth, Salman’s mega-stardom is not just because of his acting talent or star charisma but about how good a human being he is. We have known Salman now for almost 15 years. Today, he is a man who is India’s first star to have three consecutive films make Rs. 350 crore for the industry within a year! No star has seen that kind of success here. And he is still the same man he was then!

“His work mantra is simple: to be true to himself,” Sajid told India-West. “He has dared to make cinema that has Indian sensibilities and is devoid of vulgarity. He has brought back the larger-than-life hero, the film that everyone wants to watch, the family entertainer and finally the melodious music that had gone out of fashion. Salman relives his childhood fantasies, I think, by acting in the kind of movies he enjoyed then.

“We have learnt so much just by observing him. When he gave us our first break we were so grateful that we asked him what we could give him in return, and he just said, ‘Give me good songs.’ I recall recording ‘Lagan Lagi’ for ‘Tere Naam’ when our career had gone through its worst phase and we were entering a recording studio after over a year. Our confidence was sapped and when he told me to sing out the song in front of everyone, I was hesitating.

“And he said, ‘This is your work. Never hesitate to show your hunar (talent) to anyone. Ek sacche artiste ko kabhi nakhre nahin dikhane chahiye. Logon ko sirf apne kaam se jeeto, phir koi kitna bhi bura soche (Win over people only with your work, then whatever bad things people think about you) you will become successful.’ And he has proved it in such a spectacular way, because Salman practices whatever he preaches.”

DAVID DHAWAN, director

“Salman Khan has always been underrated,” said Dhawan. “He is very serious about his movies. Like Rajnikanth, he improvises his scenes and has this flair for dialogue-baazi that comes from his father Salim Khan. He is never insecure about scenes and other actors, whether it is with Akshay Kumar, Govinda, Sanjay Dutt or anyone else. It was his production ‘Partner’ that saw Govinda’s comeback.

I” have worked with Salman in ‘Judwaa,’ ‘Deewana Mastana,’ ‘Biwi No.1,’ ‘Chal Mere Bhai,’ ‘Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge,’ ‘Mujhse Shaadi Karogi’ and ‘Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya’ as well — no one else has directed him in so many films.  He is someone who is special to me.”